Mists of Time
by newyork24-7
Summary: Something decidedly unworldly is stalking Director Jennifer Shepard.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So here it is, the promised collabaration with _Elflordsmistress. _This is a supernatural fic.

As it is a supernatural story, you will have to take it with a handful of salt. This is not a story to take seriously :)

My last point is to let you know that updates will be roughly between 7 and 10 days, and we aim to stick to this schedule.

So without further ado, here begins our tale.

* * *

She could feel someone watching her.

Nonchalantly, Jennifer Sheppard glanced to her left. Hector was standing there, staring resolutely ahead. Just as he had been the last time she'd chanced a look at him. Giving herself an internal shake, Jenny told herself that she was being foolish. That it was simply the dark and the cold playing on her nerves. Silently willing the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand down, she tried to focus on the positive aspects of her day.

She'd had one hell of a win.

She allowed herself a triumphant grin at the memory; her head dipping as she did so, so that her face was hidden from those accompanying her by a curtain of her hair. She hated people knowing what she was thinking or feeling. Was a firm believer that the element of surprise gave her an advantage.

Still, it was nice to allow herself that small moment to acknowledge her achievement. She'd managed to secure the biggest increase in budget that NCIS had seen to date. It had taken months of preparation. Long days and longer nights spent putting together a presentation on why they deserved such an increase. But it had been worth it. Another feather in her cap, was the way Sec Nav had described it.

Jenny's smile widened at the thought of the Abby's delight at the news that she was getting coveted new equipment. It wasn't very often that she got to pass on that kind of happy news, so she was planning to savour it.

The smile fell from her lips though, as another shudder ran through her. Despite her best attempts to block the feeling, the shiver traversed her spine and goosebumps broke out over her arms. She still felt as though someone was staring at her, their eyes burning through her. As casually as she could manage, she glanced behind her. There were people behind her; milling around the entrance to the building. But none were paying her any undue attention. Frowning, she shook her head and looked ahead again, only to find Hector staring at her in mild concern. His head inclined towards her as he queried, "Director?"

Jenny pasted a seemingly unconcerned smile onto her face as she replied, "I'm fine, Hector." Adding, on seeing the unconvinced look on his face, "I'm just cold."

His gaze lingered on her slightly longer than necessary, before he gave a short, sharp nod and replied, "car's on it's way round. It should only be another minute or so."

Jenny nodded briefly, then quickly looked away, although she still caught the look that flittered across Hector's face, and saw him tense slightly, as though he was now anticipating something was going to happen.

Jenny glanced at her watch and let out a low breath, now even more determined than ever to get the hell out of there. Although she liked Hector, she hated the fact he seemed inclined to be overbearing and overprotective. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his concern, it was just that part of her missed the freedom she'd taken for granted before becoming Director.

The next few seconds passed in silence before she saw black town car appear. She only narrowly resisted the urge to let out a large sigh of relief when it pulled up in front of her. She flashed a brief smile up at Hector as he held the car door open for her, and slid into the warm, safe interior. She heard the car door slam shut, heard the heavy footsteps of the man accompanying her as he moved around to the front of the car, and allowed herself to sink back into her seat. Her eyes fluttering shut for a moment as her muscles unclenched, and the feeling of being watched slipped away from her. Rolling her neck, her shut eyelids tightened minutely as her tense muscles seemed to scream in protest. She shook her head and a small laugh escaped her lips, it was foolish of her to think that someone was watching her, it had simply been the eerie atmosphere that had seemed to permeate the November air. Opening her eyes, she rubbed at her temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. She was obviously getting paranoid as she got older she thought.

She pushed the fact that this wasn't the first time she'd felt like this to the recesses of her mind.

Shuffling further back into her seat, Jenny leaned her head against the darkened glass of the window, and as the discomfort of a few minutes ago faded away into nothing more than a bad memory, she allowed her smile from earlier to tug at her lips again. This time she had no need to hide her delight.

* * *

Dark eyes watched from across the street as the town car drove away. He might as well have never been there as he faded into nothingness.

* * *

Shrugging her heavy red coat off her shoulders, Jenny strolled casually into the outer office, her business like steps pausing when she noticed her assistant still sitting at her desk, resolutely typing away. "Cynthia, you didn't need to wait for me to get back, you should have just headed home, it's already after six."

The younger woman lifted her face away from the almost piercing light of her computer, and flashed her boss a tired, yet genuine smile, replying, "I just really wanted to finish this before I go home. I heard the meeting went well. Congratulations"

Pushing down her natural inclination to grin like a maniac, Jenny gave a small nod, "Good news obviously travels fast."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow at the reply. From the gleam in the redhead's eye the success of the day meant more to her than she was letting on, she was very obviously in a good mood. Cynthia tapped her fingers somewhat nervously against the wooden desk. It wasn't very often that the Director was given a reason to smile, and she really didn't want to ruin that, but she had no choice but to tell her.

She spoke up hesitantly. "Agent Gibbs was looking for you earlier."

"What about?"

"He didn't say, but he was rather insistent that he talk to you."

Cynthia watched as the older woman's jaw tensed slightly, a muscle in her cheek twitching, although to her credit her voice was smooth and even as she replied, "Well I'm sure that if it's that important he'll be up here within the next five minutes. No doubt word will get round that I'm back."

Jenny shifted her bag more securely onto her shoulder, adding, "and Cynthia .. go home."

"I will," Cynthia nodded. Smiling slightly at the irony of being ordered home by one of the Agencies two workaholics. "Just as soon as I've finished this," she finished.

Jenny's mouth twisted in wry amusement. "Fine." She waved her hand, her voice lilting slightly in laughter. "Just don't be too long. I'd hate to think my habits are rubbing off on you." And with a supremely amused smile at the look of surprise on Cynthia's face, she turned and walked into her office.

Letting the door fall shut behind her, Jenny carefully hung her coat on the stand and moved over to her sofa. Dragging a hand through her hair as she did so. She really didn't want Jethro charging in and spoiling her good mood, because from the sounds of things she very much doubted that he wanted a friendly chat. There hadn't been much of that between them recently. Things had been strained since she'd sent Dinozzo undercover, and it didn't look as though that would be changing anytime soon.

She flopped down onto the comfortable cushions next to her bag. Keeping her heels on, because despite the fact they were beginning to pinch, she wanted the extra height if she was going to have yet another battle with Jethro. He always stood really close to her when they argued and she was in no mood to crane her neck to look up at him today.

As she tilted her head back, rolling her neck against the edge of the cushions, she caught a flash of something white on her desk. Her curiosity piqued - mainly because she'd left a clear desk - she stood up and moved swiftly over to the desk, her eyes widening when she saw what was sitting on the polished wood. Three unblemished Calla lilies stood out against the darkness of the wood; their long stems bound in crimson ribbon. Reaching out, she let a manicured fingernail run along one of the petals; smiling slightly at the silky feel of it as the scent hit her nostrils. Her smile widened when she saw the card - and faded when she saw the script. The letters were written in an almost calligraphic style. Penned in black ink. It wasn't the handwriting that had her heart racing and her breathing quickening though.

_My congratulations on your win today.  
After all your hard work, you deserve it._

Jenny frowned, trying to figure out who could possibly have sent this. Yes everyone had known about today's meeting, the Agency had been on tenterhooks waiting for the news. But there hadn't been enough time for flowers to be delivered, and she certainly didn't have that kind of a relationship with the Secretary of the Navy.

She turned it over in her hand.

No flower company logo or phone number on it.

The feeling of unease made her skin crawl all over again.

She was so engrossed trying to recognise the handwriting, she didn't register her door opening until Jethro's voice filled the room.

"You done ass kissin' on the hill?"

She jumped slightly. Her shoulders jerking as the card fell from her fingers and landed on the desk.

"What do you want, Jethro?"

Gibbs frowned as he took in the defensive tone. In itself that was not unusual. The fact that she had actually jumped when he'd stormed in - now that was unusual. She was never surprised by his barging in, she hadn't even so much as blinked the very first time he'd done it, and yet just now there had been a brief moment where she'd looked absolutely terrified. Moving forward, he frowned as she seemed to move to one side. Almost as if she were trying to block something from his view. He attempted to scan the desk, but there was nothing of note in his line of vision.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Problem?"

Her gaze followed his, and his frown returned when he saw a brief look of confusion cross her face. As soon as it appeared though it was gone, though, and she merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"I asked you a question first. What do you want?"

His eyes narrowed at that. It was never a good sign when she started avoiding answering his questions. Continuing to stare at her, clearly hoping she'd crack, he replied, "you authorised all the records of an old case of mine's to be handed over to the FBI."

Jen shrugged. "They believe that he's connected to a couple of their cold cases, I saw no harm in them looking."

"You could have given me some warning. Didn't particularly enjoy hearing about it from Fornell."

She tucked a strand of hair neatly behind her ear, and his frown deepened. She was on edge and was trying to pretend otherwise, and with anyone else she would have gotten away with it. But he knew her too well. Could hear the hint of strain in her voice as she replied, "I'll keep that in mind if it happens again."

She gestured towards the door, indicating that he leave, but he ignored her. This entire conversation hadn't gone as he'd thought it would. He'd expected a full blown argument, an entirely different reaction when he stormed into her office. But instead she seemed to desperately want him out of her office - and he wanted to know why.

He moved forward, and she mimicked him, as if to block his movements, repeating, "If that's all, Agent Gibbs .."

"I answered your question .." He let his statement float in the air for a minute. Watched as the realization flared in her eyes and her stance became even more defensive. Then he gave a brief smirk and took another step towards her.

Jenny gave a small chuckle, her teeth biting briefly into her lower lip as she did so. She shook her head looking somewhat amused, "You wanted to talk to me about the case reports that were given to our sister Agency, I however do not want to talk to you about anything." She waved one hand towards the door, but she made the fatal mistake of brushing her hand distractedly across the desk. Catching the white card and sending it fluttering to the floor; directly in front of Jethro's feet. In the brief seconds that followed, she watched as Jethro leaned over to pick up the card in question - and cursed inwardly. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow in what she hoped was in a casual expression as his eyes scanned the writing.

Gibbs looked up at the desk, now catching sight of the flowers lying on the desk. Flowers that obviously had her on edge, and that she'd tried to hide from him. The cogs in his head went into over-drive as he tapped a finger against the white card.

"People don't feel the need to sign their name these days?" He watched her carefully. Trying to gauge if his gut instinct was right.

"Obviously not."

Gibbs's eyes narrowed at the strained edge in Jenny's voice, it wasn't an emotion he was used to hearing from her, and he glanced down at the card again and frowned, "You do know who sent these?"

Her eyes flickered away from his, no longer meeting his intense stare. She brushed an errant strand of hair away from her face as she replied distractedly, "No, actually I don't."

His glare darkened in intensity, and Jen sucked in a breath and admitting "I don't have a clue."

"Do you recognise the writing?"

"No." Jenny sucked in a deep breath, her tone grudging she said again, "No, I've never seen it before and it's pretty distinctive."

Not liking the way this conversation was going, and seeing the deepening glare on Gibbs's face, Jenny moved away from her desk, heading to the cabinet on the far side of the room and removing a bottle of bourbon, splashing a liberal amount into a glass and sipping at it slowly.

Gibbs continued to watch her. This was bothering her, he could tell. He turned on his heel abruptly and headed towards the door. His reaction causing Jenny to straighten so that she was no longer leaning against the dark wood cabinet, but her confusion dissipated when he barked, "Cynthia, here. Now!"

She rolled her eyes. "Agent Gibbs I would appreciate it if you didn't call my assistant as though she were a dog."

Cynthia appeared in the doorway looking flustered; her coat on and obviously in the middle of preparing to head home. She looked from Jenny to Gibbs with wide eyes. "Is there a problem, Director?"

Jenny stepped forward, sensing where Jethro was going with this and not wanting him interrogating her assistant - who she liked and had no compulsion to replace. "I was just wondering which company delivered the flowers?"

Cynthia's forehead creased in confusion and she stuttered slightly, "What flowers?"

Gibbs stepped forward, crowding the younger woman's personal space. "Someone must have delivered these."

Cynthia glanced between the two in confusion and then looked in the direction Gibbs was pointing.

"Were you here all day?" he asked.

"I left the desk for about twenty minutes to go to HR, but Director Sheppard's door has been locked since she left. And the door to the outer office was locked when I wasn't here."

Gibbs turned and glanced at Jenny. "When you got back-"

"My door was locked," Jenny confirmed.

Gibbs met Jenny's eyes, taking note of the conflict of emotions that were flashing across them. Then he glanced down at the card again and stormed out of the room.

Jenny stood stock still for a brief second - before finally coming to her senses and following him as he stormed along the catwalk.

She drew level with him at the top of the stairs.

"Jethro?" she asked as he snapped his phone shut.

"Hector's on his way up," he said sharply as he stabbed a finger at her. "You stay in your office till I get to the bottom of this!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors' note: **

Just a word to say that this story is still settling – and that this is primarily a chapter about frustration. Well, that and a means of involving the team. Things shake up a bit in the next one.

* * *

"I will _not_ stay in my office, and I don't need Hector staring at me while I do paperwork," she hissed as she followed him down the stairs.

Gibbs stopped abruptly and turned to look at her, his jaw clenched.

"Someone getting in and out of the locked office of the _Director_ of an Armed Federal Agency without being noticed isn't a joke, Jen. Regardless of their intention."

What he was saying made sense, but it irked her nonetheless.

"Well it's _obviously_ someone within the Agency. Maybe it's someone playing a joke on Cynthia. Maybe it was a dare. Whoever it is probably swiped the keys from the janitorial staff."

"Maybe. But we still need to know who's responsible," Gibbs snapped in reply as stopped in front of McGee's desk.

The young agent looked up. Eyes wide as he felt the dangerous waves radiating off his boss and the Director. She was standing just behind Gibbs, looking like she'd very much like to shoot him. And beyond them Cynthia was now rushing down the stairs. All in all he figured that this wasn't going to be good for him, and his nervousness was crystal clear as he said, "Boss?"

"Need you to pull up the security footage from the Director's outer office."

McGee shot an apprehensive look at the bristling redhead.

"Um, I can't do that. We don't have access to it from our desks."

"_Hack into it_," Gibbs growled.

McGee glanced over at Jenny again. Unsure which one he should annoy.

"McGee, I'm well aware of your capabilities," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'll look away this once so we can be done with this debacle."

By this time both Tony and Ziva had looked up from there own work, and had also made their way over to McGee's desk. Tony glanced at his fuming boss.

"Problem, Boss?"

Gibbs ignored him, turning instead to Cynthia. "What time did you leave your desk?"

"I was gone from about half past three until just before four."

"Bring it up, McGee. We want anyone who was in the Director's office in that time frame."

"On it."

Jenny frowned slightly, and cleared her throat.

"They couldn't have been left then."

"_What_ couldn't have been?" Tony asked. Sharing a thoroughly confused look with Ziva and McGee.

Gibbs once again ignored him as he demanded, "why not?"

"The note refers to me securing our budget. At that time I didn't yet know the result."

Gibbs frowned, and then glanced back at McGee. "Check it anyway." As McGee went to work, he turned his full attention back to Cynthia. "Was that the only time you were away from the office?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes." Then she thoughtfully shook her head, "No. No, I left the office for few minutes just before Director Shepard came back."

"What time?"

"Five thirty, maybe."

"McGee .."

"I'm in, Boss. Just increasing the playback speed." He turned the screen so the crowd around his desk could see it. They watched as Cynthia left her desk and saw that the outer office remained empty. McGee hit another button. "Got it." The images flashed on the large plasma screen as he worked his magic.

Again they watched as Cynthia disappeared from view, only to appear again a few minutes later - with absolutely nothing happening took a deep breath of frustration as Cynthia turned pale.

"Those are the only times I left the desk all day, and _no-one_ went into Director Shepard's office when I was there."

Gibbs let out an impatient hiss of breath. One of the muscles in his jaw twitched as he struggled to keep his voice at a normal level. "Someone was obviously in there. They didn't just appear by magic."

"_What didn't?_" Tony mouthed at McGee - who merely shrugged in reply.

Gibbs glanced down at the card in his hand and added, "I'll take this down to Abby, get her to run prints." He glanced over at Jenny, who had crossed her arms across her chest. "We'll find out who sent them, then we'll find out how they got in."

Jenny gave a brief nod. "Fine. Cynthia, you look exhausted. Go home."

"Stay!" Gibbs snapped in reply.

Jen shook her head. "Go," she said forcefully.

For a moment it seemed as though Gibbs might argue, but after a moment he started to walk to the elevators. "Just make sure you're available to answer questions," he tossed over his shoulder.

Cynthia seemed to hover on the spot indecisively for a moment, and then finally gave a small nod. Jen gave her a small smile before hurrying to catch up with Gibbs.

"What was that about?" Tony asked as soon as the elevator doors slid closed.

"Someone left the Director flowers."

"She's had flower deliveries before. How did that turn into, well, _this?_"

"They've never just _appeared _in her locked office before."

"Someone got into the Director's office?" McGee asked in concern. "When it was locked?"

Tony caught onto McGee's train of thought, and ran with it. "So whoever it was somehow got past everyone here, past you, and wasn't caught on the cameras. Which means we've got a security issue."

"No wonder Gibbs is pissed," McGee muttered.

Gibbs leaned against the wall of the elevator, watching Jenny distractedly brush a lock of hair off her cheek. She looked even more on edge than she had in her office. His gut churning, he reached out and hit the emergency stop button. Jenny's head snapped up as she was jerked back to reality.

"When this breaks I'm going to deduct the cost of repairs from your pay," she said coldly.

He ignored the comment, and held the card up between his thumb and forefinger.

"Anything else I should know, Jen? Anything else bothering you?"

"No."

He caught the almost undetectable twitch in her eye, and his stomach twisted a little more.

"You're lying."

The thought that something was off with her came out of nowhere. He couldn't put a finger on it, but the more he looked at her the more his gut told him something was wrong. That he needed to keep a close eye on her.

Jenny crossed her arms across her middle. "It's nothing."

"Well then you won't mind sharing."

A small stream of air rushed past Jen's lips as she looked at him.

"Let's have it," Gibbs said.

"I've had the feeling for a while that someone's watching me."

Gibbs let out an annoyed rush of breath through his nose, nostrils flaring.

"Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"Because it's just a _feeling_, Jethro. And I don't report to you, you report to me."

"Once upon a time you _trusted_ your feelings, Jen. You trusted your instinct. You should have mentioned it to your detail. You have a detail for a _reason_. Is there anyone it's likely to be? Any dates who were overly familiar?"

"There's no-one."

He stared at her, her behaviour in the office falling into place. Jenny wasn't someone to overreact and she didn't do paranoia. If she felt someone was watching her then it was more than likely that someone was, in fact, doing so. Stepping forward, he met her eyes. His hand brushing down her arm in the only gesture of comfort he thought she'd tolerate.

"I'll find him, Jen."

* * *

Abby sucked happily on a Caf Pow she'd stored in her fridge. Bobbing her head in time to the music. Feeling the presence of someone else in her lab, she whirled round to see both Gibbs and Jenny standing only a few feet behind her.

"Hi Gibbs! Director!" She turned and rooted around in one of her drawers - pulling out a sheet of paper. "I know that you still need to allocate the money if you get it, but I've made a list of things I really need for the lab. You know, I'm being proactive and .. stuff. The things in red are-"

"Abby!"

Abby looked at him in a state of shock. Gibbs never snapped that way. Her eyes slid to Jenny, belatedly noticing the slightly grim set to her jaw, and then back to Gibbs.

"Need you to pull prints off this," he said as he held out the card.

Abby slipped a latex glove onto her hand and took it. Frowning as she scanned the message. "What case is it for?"

"Off the record. My prints and the Director's are already on it. I want an ID."

"And here I thought it would be difficult," Abby said with a laugh.

"How long?"

"Depends on how long it takes to go through the database."

Gibbs nodded. "All federal employees as well, Abs."

"Sure." Abby watched as the two left her lab and then she glanced over at Bert, "Did they look unsettled to you?"

Less than an hour later Gibbs found his gaze wandering up towards Jenny's office. She'd agreed to stay in the building until they had the results back from Abby, and Hector had positioned outside her office door. Giving the third degree to anyone who so much as looked in his direction. He glanced away. Satisfied that, for the moment, Jenny was safe. He looked over at his team, watching as they kept themselves occupied, wanting them there when the ID came through. Just as the thought rumbled through his mind, the phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Hey."

"Whatcha got?"

He heard a small sigh, and his small smile disappeared as she replied, "I'm really sorry, Gibbs, but there were only two sets of fingerprints on that card. I ran them both through AFIS anyway and one set was yours and the other was the Directors. I looked at the card but there's nothing special about it. I can't trace it," Abby finished miserably.

Gibbs rubbed at his forehead as he slammed the phone down, and look up again as Tony's voice cut into his thoughts. "Anything, Boss?"

"Nothing," Gibbs replied. "We got nothing."


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow! It's been a long time since this was updated.**

**However there have been some developments. The main one being that I shall be continuing this story solo, that being said I shall be sticking to what had been planned so far, which should take us up until chapter 5 or so. After that, I have the rough idea but some minor things to resove and make decisions on.**

**I hope despite the gap between updates and the fact that this is no longer a collab that I don't lose too many of you.**

* * *

Ducky glanced up from his desk as the doors to Autopsy hissed open. On seeing Gibbs storm through, he placed his pen on the desk whilst pushing his slipping glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. He frowned as he took in the tension in his friend's stance, that along with the way his jaw was tightly clenched meant that this visit was certainly not one of a social nature. He commented mildly, "I wasn't expecting to see you down here, Jethro."

Ignoring the statement, Gibbs asked, "You busy?"

"I was just finishing my report on Petty Officer Rawlings, nothing that can't wait a few more minutes." His slight frown deepened marginally before he continued, "I assume this visit has something to do with the gift Director Sheppard received today." On seeing Gibbs scowl, he added, "I went up to the lab to retrieve some results from Abby and she let slip what she was working on. Any news on who sent it yet?"

Letting out an irate sigh Gibbs shook his head. "Abby couldn't pull any prints. Was wondering if there was anything you could tell me, anything that might help us find out who this is."

Giving a small laugh Ducky replied, "Jethro, I may have studied psychology but I still need something to base my observations on."

Gibbs held out two evidence bags, one containing the three flowers and the other containing the card that had accompanied them. "This do?"

Ducky took the proffered bags with a small smile. "It's a start." He looked at the flowers first and without even glancing up at Gibbs, he asked, "Did you know that all flowers have a meaning?"

Rubbing at his temples, Gibbs replied tersely, "How is this relevant, Duck?"

Ignoring his friend's harsh tone, Ducky studied the flowers intently and continued, "It is believed that the flowers you pick convey a message on how you feel about the recipient."

"So what do these mean?"

"These, Jethro are calla lilies, they are a popular flower choice for both weddings and funerals-"

"Funerals?" Gibbs interrupted.

"Yes, Calla lilies can symbolise resurrection and rebirth. Although in this case I would assume that they were given for their meaning of majesty and beauty; as a sign of appreciation. This ties in with the note, which holds no threatening connotations. I don't believe whoever sent these means any harm towards Director Sheppard."

"They're stalking her."

Ducky looked up at that, eyes wide. "I believed that the issue here was a security based, revolving around the fact that someone had managed to get into the Director's locked office."

"It was at first," Gibbs admitted.

"But now?"

"Jenny let it slip that recently she's been concerned that someone's been following her. I had a brief talk with Hector who told me that for the past few weeks, today especially, there have been times where she's been distracted, on edge."

Realization dawned in Ducky's eyes. "You believe that this is merely his first proper contact, that he has learned her routines, her habits and is now making his presence known to her. It would certainly make sense that someone with Jennifer's background would be more likely to pick up on someone watching her. And while I agree that we need to catch whoever this is, I still don't think that he poses an immediate threat to her."

"Don't like the use of the word immediate."

"What you have to understand Jethro, is that if Jennifer is indeed being stalked then there are many different types of stalkers, the most immediate danger being presented by the predatory or resentful stalker, neither of which would send such a gift or card to their victim and certainly not with such an innocent message."

Gibbs gave a small nod of understanding. "Fine, so what can you tell me about them?"

Ducky slipped a glove onto his hand, he gestured at the bag that contained the card, "May I?"

"Go ahead, Abby's already analyzed it."

Slowly and carefully Ducky pulled the card out of the plastic bag and studied it carefully. "He may not have left behind a physical trail, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't left us clues as to what type of person we're looking for. Did you know, Jethro that Graphology is the study and analysis of handwriting in relation to human psychology-"

"Get to the point," Gibbs sighed irritably.

Glancing upwards, Ducky saw that his friend really wasn't interested in the why's and how's, he just wanted a result. "Very well. My point is that we can get a read on the senders personality by looking at his handwriting. If you look here you'll see that the letters slant to the left, this indicates that the sender keeps control over his emotions. The writing is small but not overly so, showing us that the writer is a thinker, possibly an academic, very detail orientated. The writing is neat and completely legible which would mean that despite his emotional reservations that he communicates well with others." Ducky gave a confused sigh and shook his head. "It's not the common description of a stalker, even one harbours no ill intent towards their victim."

"It can't be the most accurate way of getting a personality type, you could be wrong," Gibbs pointed out.

"I'll admit that this is not a certainty, but I would expect some sign that the writer is unstable, even slightly delusional if he has taken to stalking. If we are dealing with a stalker then he's not your everyday variety."

"Why do I feel like that isn't good news," Gibbs sighed. Rubbing his forehead he asked, "Anything else you can tell me?"

"I would assume from this that whoever wrote this has met Jennifer, rather than just seen her through the media. They don't seem to be the type of person who latches onto someone without meeting them, although I have no way of confirming that, call it a _gut feeling_." He gave Gibbs a wry smile.

Gibbs managed a small smile back, his mind running through what he'd just been told. In all honesty getting Ducky to analyze the evidence was a last ditch attempt to find some form of lead. "You think they'll keep this up, keep going?"

"I don't know, I think we need to be cautious and keep our eyes open. If he is indeed following her then he won't just stop." Ducky frowned down at the items. "Do you mind if I keep these?"

"Go right ahead. If you think of anything else-"

"I'll let you know," the Doctor assured him.

Gibbs nodded as he headed towards the double doors, now even more convinced that Jenny wasn't safe, that something wasn't right. As he reached the Autopsy room's doors, he heard a small cough and turned to find Ducky still staring at him intently, his head cocked to one side. "Your gut's bothering you on this one."

A statement more than a question, but Gibbs replied anyway, "Yeah it is." Before walking out the open doors and back into the elevator.

* * *

Jenny blinked rapidly, trying to concentrate on the files in front of her, attempting - somewhat unsuccessfully - to distract herself. Leaning forward on her elbows she rubbed at the back of her neck, her eyes involuntarily drifting to the door where she knew Hector was standing guard on the other side, giving the third degree to anyone that so much as glanced in the direction of her office.

Shifting uncomfortably, she tapped her pen against the desk agitatedly. She didn't like this, didn't like that she'd been confined to her office and especially didn't like that this incident had unnerved her. She'd been able to push away the thought that someone was watching her, had been able to deny it to herself. The flowers, the note made it real, confirmed her unspoken fears of the last few weeks; months if she was being completely honest.

The tapping of her pen slowed as she became lost in her own thoughts. Whoever this was would be caught, she knew that, they'd slip up and that would be it over, and then she could get on with her life. Somewhat comforted by this thought, she righted her pen and turned her full attention back to her paperwork.

* * *

Hector's head snapped up as he saw Agent Gibbs enter the outer office. "Got an I.D. yet?"

The older man shook his head. "Nope. Anything I should know about happen?"

"Couple of people wanting to make equipment requests, told 'em to submit it in writing, didn't let anyone in."

Gibbs nodded. "Good." His eyes trailed over Hector, quickly deciding that he could be trusted, and not just for the fact that he was Jenny's head of security. He cared, actually cared about her and Gibbs was in no doubt that he'd do what was necessary to keep her safe. "What are the plans for tonight's detail?"

"Was waiting until I got news to confirm anything, but the preliminary plan is to carry out a sweep of the house before she gets home. We'll have two Agent's outside the house as usual and an extra two in a car across the street watching the perimeter."

"No security inside the house?"

"Doubt the Director would allow it, that and if the area's secured it won't be needed. She'll have a panic button of course."

"Any worries-"

"And an Agent will be placed directly with Director Shepard and back-up will be called." Hector's eyes flashed slightly. "With respect Agent Gibbs I am more than capable of doing my job. The Director's safety is my main priority, I don't mind sharing plans for her security with you in these instances, but let me worry about keeping her safe while you concentrate on your job and find this guy."

They stared at each other for a few minutes, an uncomfortable silence stretching out between them with both men realising they'd reached a stalemate that was only broken when eventually Hector asked, "Anything else, Agent Gibbs?"

"Need to talk to her."

Hector gave a brief nod, stepping away from the doorway to let Gibbs past. Once the door was firmly shut he slid back into his original stance.

Jenny didn't even look up as Gibbs entered the room. "What did Abby find?"

"Nothing."

Her head shot up at that. "Nothing?" She echoed questionably.

"That's what I said."

She blinked somewhat disbelievingly, trying to keep a rigid control over the confusion that was threatning to take over her thoughts. "What about prints?"

"There were only two sets of prints on that card, yours and mine. No distinctive marks on the card either, nothing that we can trace."

"Right." Jenny bit down on her lip looking slightly dazed.

"I did speak to Ducky, got him to look at the card. He doesn't think that whoever sent these means you any harm, but we can't ignore the fact that he got in here without being noticed. And if he's been following you then he could very well make another gesture, so your security will need to be increased."

"For how long?"

"Not sure."

Jenny leaned back in her chair, suddenly too tired to argue. She waved her hand dismissively. "Fine." Gathering her files into a neat pile she hit the intercom on her left hand side. "Hector could you please arrange for the car to be brought round, I'm finished here for the night."

"No problem Ma'am," came the slightly disembodied reply.

Jenny looked up from her desk. "Is that all Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs eyes scanned over her, taking in the tired eyes, the closed off stance and nodded, knowing that she wanted out of this office and knowing that there was now no reason for her to stay, with her security she was just as safe at home. He gave a slight nod. "That's all."

"Good." she heaved the large pile of files into her arms and balancing it carefully she grasped for the strap of her handbag with her free hand. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Taking the heavy paperwork pile out of Jenny's grasp, Gibbs told her casually, "I'll walk you down."

Managing a weak smile, Jenny replied almost teasingly, "That's what I have Hector for."

"He has to keep his hands free."

"I'm quite capable of carrying those files."

"Can't a guy do something nice for his former partner, Jen?"

Jenny's smile got slightly wider, the cloud from her eyes lifting. "Well when you put it like that how can I refuse?"

* * *

Standing up from her desk, Jenny sent a disdainful glance in the direction of the seemingly never shrinking pile of paperwork. Placing her hands in the curve of her back, she stretched out, groaning as she did so. Her muscles were always so stiff now, she seemed to almost constantly ache. Sighing, she walked over to her drinks cabinet and pulled out her decanter of bourbon, splashing a generous amount into a glass and sipping at it slowly she made her way back to her desk, grabbing a handful of files before heading towards the large sofa.

Sitting down, she swung her legs up onto the cushion, bending them at the knee - intending to use them as a makeshift table for her work. Continuing to sip at the burning liquid she couldn't help but let her eyes drift to the fireplace, watching the flames twist and dance as she placed the glass at her side.

It wasn't long until her eyes began to drift shut, the file on her knees fluttering onto the floor, separate sheets of paper littering the darkened wood. Despite letting out a small murmur of protest Jenny decided to ignore them, she could get them in the morning after all and right now she just wanted to sleep.

* * *

Rubbing his cold hands together, Hector walked round to the front of the house, nodding at the two Agent's standing at the door. "Back of the house is clear."

One of the Agents, a small dark-haired woman nodded. "Garden's closed off with thick trees and hedges, it's highly unlikely someone would get through un-noticed. The back door's locked, we checked when we swept the house. We'll check the grounds every fifteen minutes though. While we do that Agents Kent and Parker will watch the front."

"Good," Hector replied, his eyes scanning across the street once more.

Scuffing his foot against the ground, Agent Charlie Harris pointed out, "You should go home, get some sleep. You're back on at seven you need to be alert."

Hector gave a distracted nod. "I will, it's just that something feels off."

"We're here, no one's getting past us," Charlie assured him with a grin.

"Don't get cocky," Hector snapped at the younger man. "That's when mistakes get made."

Charlie's head bowed slightly, fully rebuffed. "Won't happen again," he mumbled.

"Better not." Hector let out an irate sigh. "I'm going to check the house, then I'll go."

"It's after twelve," Angela Young pointed out. "She could be asleep."

"Light's are still on, she'll be in the study."

"You've been here way too long," Charlie smiled.

Hector managed a small grin. "Yeah well once that's done I'll go, let you get on with this."

"'Bout time," Angela joked as Hector stepped towards the heavy front door, turning the handle.

* * *

Leaning forward on his haunches, he picked up the stray pieces of paper off the floor and slipped them back into their folder, careful to ensure that they were in the correct order. He eyed the contents in moderate disinterest and on seeing she'd finished the work inside, silently placed it on top of the finished pile on her desk, putting the others on the smaller 'still to do' pile, before heading back to where she was sleeping.

Smiling softly at how peaceful she looked, he pulled the throw off the back of the sofa and covered her with it, tucking it carefully in at her sides. Gently brushing a few strands of hair off her forehead, his thumb travelling down to trace the smooth skin of her cheekbone.

Hearing the slow creak of the front door open, he cocked his head to one side, slowly drawing his hand away and got to his feet. He had to do this, had to be seen, she wouldn't believe him otherwise. He heard the deep male voice call out, "Director Shepard."

Backing silently away he watched her stir slightly, although her eyes stayed resolutely shut. He didn't want to go, didn't want to leave her but he knew he had no choice. Taking a deep breath he finally pulled his eyes away from her sleeping form and ran out into the hallway.

* * *

His steps slow and heavy in the silent hallway Hector made his way towards the study door. Not wanting to alarm the woman inside, he paused at the table in the hall and called out lowly, "Director Shepard."

He heard no reply, and was about to try again when the figure of a tall, dark haired man darted out of the study, running quickly down the hallway towards the kitchen. Pulling his gun from his holster, Hector yelled out, "Federal Agent. Stop!" When the man continued to run, he fired. The man didn't even pause. Grabbing his radio he barked into it, "Male, Caucasian intruder heading towards rear of the house." Without waiting to hear a reply, he ran towards the study, praying.

* * *

Jenny jolted awake at the sound of gunshots. Adrenaline flooded her bloodstream and she jumped to her feet with ease, barely aware of the throw that fell to her feet. She was heading towards the door when Hector barrelled through it. Grabbing her by the shoulders he pushed her roughly away from the door and patted her down looking for injuries. "Hector I'm Ok, what's going on!"

He didn't answer her, instead saying into his radio, "Director Shepard is secure."

Jenny blinked at him in confusion. "Hector! What is it?"

Again he didn't reply, distracted by the Agent who appeared in the doorway. "You get him?"

"No sign, we couldn't see or hear anyone, Agent Harris is checking the house and Agent's Parker and Kent are checking the grounds, but no sign so far." She turned her attention to Jenny. "Ma'am are you Ok?"

"I would be better if I knew what the hell was going on here!" Jenny ground out in frustration.

Hector blinked at her in slight confusion. "You didn't see him?"

"Who?"

"There was a man in your study, I was doing a quick sweep of the house when he ran out of here." Hector tightened his grip on Jenny's forearm as she paled, her eyes widening.

"No," she whispered, her eyes focussing on the faraway wall, trying to distance herself from the proceedings in an effort to keep calm. "I was asleep."

She briefly closed her eyes as she heard Hector's hiss of breath, his hand slipping from her arm and she saw him move closer to Agent Young, muttering to her, "Stay with her, stay alert."

The young woman gave a curt nod, and Hector turned on his heel and exited the room. Jenny watched the remaining Agent's movements closely, knowing that she was on red alert. She swallowed convulsively, her spine rigid. At this moment in time she wanted nothing more than to shut herself away, to admit that she was scared but her pride wouldn't let her; so she rallied herself together, determined to keep up her façade of calm.

Her eyes examined the room, falling onto the throw that was now lying discarded on the floor. She frowned slightly, remembering that it had been tucked around her when she'd jumped to her feet. Tearing her eyes away, she swallowed heavily, trying to rid herself of the lump of panic that had suddenly taken up residence in her throat.

* * *

Gibbs eyes shot open as the harsh ringing of his cell phone reverberated around his basement, jerking him out of his sleep. Sitting up, he ducked out from under his boat, rubbing at the stubble covering his jaw and stifling a yawn he reached for his phone with one hand and his mason jar with the other, answering gruffly, "Gibbs."

There was a small hesitation on the other end of the phone before the man on the other end bit out, "Agent Gibbs, it's Hector, we have a situation."

Slamming the mason jar back onto his workbench, Gibbs felt his chest tighten and his stomach drop. "What kind of situation?"

"An intruder."

Gibbs bit back a vicious curse. "You get 'em"

"No, he managed to run. We've searched inside and out, there's no sign; he's long gone."

"The Director?"

"Secure."

Nodding regardless of the fact that he couldn't be seen, he replied, "I'm on my way."

He heard Hector's tired sigh, but knew that the man had expected nothing else and ended the call. Pushing his phone into his jeans pocket, he sent a longingful glance in the direction of the mason jar of amber liquid, wishing he could indulge but knowing he needed a clear head.

His gut was churning on this one, there had to be a connection between this and the note left in Jenny's office, there just had to be.

Grabbing the jacket he'd slung over the end of the banister, he shrugged it over his shoulders and quickly checked that he had his car keys, before leaving the basement.

* * *

It only took him ten minutes to reach Jenny's Georgetown townhouse. The difference in the neighbourhood was apparent from the moment he'd turned into the normally quiet, residential street. Almost every light in Jenny's house was on, cars were parked haphazardly at the sides of the roads and large numbers of her detail swarming around the both the front door and the grounds.

As he approached the front door he saw Hector end the conversation he was having with another member of the detail. On seeing Gibbs approach he casually dismissed the man, indicating with his head that he should step inside, then turned his full focus Gibbs, eyeing him somewhat apprehensively.

Gibbs gave him a curt nod in lieu of a greeting. "What happened?"

"Outside was secure, checked it myself. I decided to do one last sweep of the house before leaving, something just didn't feel right. As I entered the intruder ran out of the Director's study-"

"Where was she?" Gibbs interrupted harshly.

Hector's nose wrinkled in distaste as he replied, "She was in her study. She didn't see him though; she was asleep. I called out for him to stop and when he didn't I fired, he didn't so much as pause. Radioed for the other Agents to give chase while I secured the Director. We know he exited through the backdoor, it was wide open."

Hector's voice lowered, his tone becoming increasingly urgent. "That door was locked when I checked the grounds and there are no signs of forced entry. We carried out checks every fifteen minutes. The grounds were secure Agent Gibbs, this should _never_ have been a possibility."

Gibbs sucked in a breath between tightly clenched teeth, he was right, with the security they had put in place no-one should have been able to get near the place. He also knew that human error just hadn't been an possibility here, that Hector simply wouldn't have allowed it. Gibbs wasn't overly sure where that left them and that was a frightening prospect. Only just resisting the urge to rub his temple tiredly he asked, "The scene been secured?"

"Of course."

"I'll call my team, we'll check for prints and look for ways he could have got in."

Hector nodded, then after a moment's thought added meaningfully, "The Director's still in her study."

Gibbs didn't reply too busy digging out his phone. He stepped to one side as he called all three members of his team and telling them in no uncertain terms to get themselves here ASAP. Once he was done, he headed straight to the study, nodding to the Agent standing by the door.

He paused in the doorway, sending another young female Agent a meaningful glare. She gave a slight nod, and cast one last look in Jenny's direction, before leaving the room and taking a new place next to the Agent outside the door.

Turning his full attention to Jenny, he studied her carefully. She had her back to him, not even turning when he entered the room. A cup of coffee was clutched between her hands and she seemed to be gazing intently into the fire.

He glanced back towards the sofa, noting the throw that lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, next to a half glass of bourbon. He felt his stomach drop at the thought that this guy had gotten so close, never mind the fact that he'd even got in in the first place, but what bothered him most was that he'd watch her sleep, that he'd been hovering over her when she should have been safest. Stepping forward he called out questionably, "Jen?"

She turned, her shuttered eyes meeting his, her stance remaining rigid. He stepped towards her, and finally she replied, "I wondered how long it would take you to get here." she glanced past him out into the hall. "Your team here yet?"

"On their way."

Jenny nodded, sipping distractedly at her coffee, grimacing when she realised how much it had cooled. "I should probably move rooms," she said finally, not particularly aiming her comment at him, more thinking aloud.

He answered regardless, "We'll need to check in here."

She nodded again, telling him, "I haven't touched anything, neither has Agent Young." Her eyes met his again. "I was doing paperwork." At his confused look, she clarified, "When I fell asleep, I was doing paperwork on the sofa, they fell to the floor. I was going to pick them up in the morning."

Her words seemed to float meaningfully in the air, and Gibbs glanced down at the floor again. On seeing that there were no files there he looked back up. "Has he taken them?" He questioned urgently, knowing what a security breach that would be.

Jenny shook her head and Gibbs was unable to identify the emotion that flashed across her face. Her voice was quiet as she finally replied, "I think he filed them, I had two separate piles and….." she trailed off, her eyes focussing on the dancing orange flames once more.

Gibbs eyes narrowed in concern. "You shouldn't be here." And she instantly knew that he wasn't just referring to her study

"I'm not leaving, Jethro. He's not forcing me out of my home." She met his eyes defiantly.

He gave a slight nod, knowing it was useless to try and push the issue. "You still shouldn't be here when my team gets here."

Her grip tightened on her mug, knuckles whitening. She nodded, biting out, "I'll sit in the living room."

"I'll walk you through."

"Fine." She made to walk past him, and he watched her walk into the hallway, waiting a second before following. They had just past the two Agent's on the door when he reached out and touched her arm to gain her attention. She glanced up at him, and he told her determinedly, "I meant what I said earlier Jen. We'll get this guy."

Jenny gave a brief nod, and for a brief moment her composure very nearly slipped. Resisting the urge to turn into his arms, she pulled herself together, instead drawing some comfort from his nearness.

No one in the hall, or indeed in the house, was aware of the dark eyes that watched them intently from the upstairs landing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to all those who took the time to review :)**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter**

* * *

I have nothing," Tony declared in disgust, leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his hair, he glanced over at McGee.

"Yeah," the younger agent agreed miserably.

Sitting bolt upright, Tony exclaimed, "You have something!"

McGee looked startled at the yelp, and shook his head vehemently. "No. I meant yeah I had nothing too, I was just agreeing with you that there was nothing, not saying that-"

"Shut it!" Tony told him, his hands moving round so his fingers could massage his temples. "We can't have nothing, there has to be something!"

Ziva glanced up from her computer screen, glaring at the man across from her. "It is not like we haven't been looking, it is that there is nothing to find."

McGee frowned. "How do you manage to break into a house and not leave any trace."

"The back door _was_ open," Tony snapped back childishly.

Rolling his eyes, McGee continued, "Yes, but the lock must have been picked. Hector says the man he saw wasn't wearing gloves, how do you pick a lock and not leave fingerprints if you're not wearing gloves?"

"Maybe he took them off once he got into the house," Ziva suggested.

"No fingerprints on the files that he touched either though, and why would you take your gloves off? That's a stupid mistake to make, and looking at this the one thing this guy isn't is stupid," Tony pointed out.

"What bothers me," McGee told them, "Is how he got out of the grounds. The hedges surrounding Director Shepard's garden are at least ten feet, and there was nothing to suggest that he went through them."

"Look," Tony snapped again. "We know the questions, what we need are the answers. We can't tell Gibbs we didn't find one single thing that gets us any closer to finding this guy. So what do we do?" Both Ziva and McGee stared blankly at him, before McGee's shoulders edged up in a shrug. Tony sighed and flopped into the back of his chair again. "Helpful guys, real helpful."

* * *

Jenny glanced up as the door to her office was thrown open, and Gibbs strolled in. She managed a faint smile at his behaviour for once, it was a sign of normality in a situation that she was rapidly losing control over. He stopped in front of her desk, his blue eyes flashing angrily at her. "Why," he ground out. "Is Hector out there instead of in here with you?"

Sighing, Jenny rolled her eyes and stood up, her hands planted on the desk in front of her. "Because, Agent Gibbs, I don't need someone staring at me while I stare at a computer screen all day."

"He's supposed to be protecting you."

"Yes, and if I go anywhere then he'll come with me. But I don't see how it makes a difference if he stands out there rather than in here. There is only one way into this office and that is through that door."

"You are meant to have someone out there as well."

Jenny snorted. "That sounds like overkill to me."

"It's a sensible precaution considering some lunatic broke into your house last night."

Gibbs watched as Jenny's spine stiffened at the mention of the events of the previous night. After a moment of tense silence, her tone was measured when she finally replied, "Regardless of that incident, I am not in need of a babysitter. Hector can do his job just as well without me having to put up with him staring at me all day long. It is not up for discussion, I've made my decision."

She watched as Gibbs eyes narrowed even further, but before he could press the point any further she asked, "Are you any closer to finding out who this is?"

His jaw clenched momentarily before he gave one single shake of his head. "No," he answered gruffly. "Just came from Abby's lab. There were no fingerprints of anyone unexpected on either the door knob or on any of the files he moved. We also now know he's not an employee, but as a precaution we also had Hector look at all the photos of any support staff, temps or staff from outside agencies who've worked here in the last three months. He wasn't amongst them."

Gibbs only just caught the flash of distress that ran across Jenny's face before she caught herself. "Has your team found out anything?"

"No," he replied shortly. "I overheard them a few minutes ago deciding how best to tell me."

Jenny managed a small yet genuine smile at that. "No doubt they'll resort to drawing straws to decide which one has to tell you that."

"It'll be Dinozzo," he told her.

"Always so sure of yourself," she teased.

He gave a small chuckle, glad that at least for a moment she'd been able to find something to smile about. After a moment, she sat back down. He inclined his head towards the door. "I should go put them out of their misery."

"Of course," she nodded.

"If you need anything-"

"Hector's right outside," she finished for him.

"That wasn't what I was going to say." He almost laughed at her look of surprise over getting that wrong. "If you need anything just call me."

Her lips twitched into what was almost a smile, she didn't know what, but she felt better knowing that he cared. "Thank you, Jethro."

He shrugged. "Just doin' my job."

The faint smile fell from her lips, and she nodded briskly. "Of course. I'm sure you can see yourself out, Agent Gibbs."

As he walked to the door, Gibbs felt like kicking himself for his last comment.

* * *

Ziva's gaze ran along the catwalk, stopping on the agent guarding the door leading into the Director's outer office. "At least we know she is safe here."

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "Did you see the security on at the doors today? This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox."

Ziva turned to look at him and frowned. "What does Fort Knox have to do with our security?"

Tony shook his head in despair. "It's an expression, we use it to describe…you know what," he sighed. "Never mind. My point was that this guy is going to have to be Houdini to get in here today."

"Yeah and that's what the Director's detail thought last night. Now you three better have something good if you're just sitting around chatting," Gibbs barked, appearing like some sort of hellish mirage behind Tony.

Tony craned his neck to look up at his irate boss. Swallowing slowly, he replied, "We couldn't find anything."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't reply, instead he headed straight for his own chair and dropped into it.

He rubbed tersely at his forehead. He didn't like this, something with this case was off. Tony was right though, there was no way anyone was getting near Jenny today. But this didn't make him feel any better, after all this guy had pulled off two break ins that should never have been able to happen, and everyone in the agency knew it, putting everyone on tenterhooks. Scuttlebutt was at all time high, with speculation running rife.

Not only had it prompted a step up in Jenny's personal security, it had also caused the building's security to tighten it's belts, having taken the incident yesterday as a personal insult.

All guests were to be escorted at all times and the sign in sheets were vigorously scrutinised, with anyone who didn't have an appointment or someone in the building able to give just cause for them being there being turned away. But still, his gut still churned uncomfortable. He gave his head a quick shake, he was being ridiculous. Tony was right, this guy wasn't getting near Jenny today. No way, no how.

* * *

Jenny stretched in her seat, and pushed her chair back from her desk as she rubbed at her eyes, which felt odd from the hours she'd sat staring at her computer screen. She was exhausted and the coffee just wasn't cutting it. Unsurprisingly she hadn't slept last night, what with Jethro's team wandering around, her detail staring at her as if afraid she would suddenly vanish and the fact that knowing someone had been watching her sleep had just freaked her out more than a little bit.

Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was already after three. She let out a hiss of breath as she stood up, making her way towards her private bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. Pushing the door shut, she turned cold tap on full blast and stared in the mirror. She almost let a groan at the sight of herself, her skin was pale and the shadows under her eyes stood out even more in comparison. Cupping her hands under the tap, she splashed her face, shivering as the freezing water hit her skin. Turning off the tap, she sighed, it hadn't really worked and if possible she looked even worse.

Patting her face with a towel, she frowned as she heard footsteps originating from her office. She shook her head, it would either be Cynthia or Hector, she was being paranoid. Sighing, she threw the towel to one side and stepped outside again. On seeing no one was there, she shook her head again. Definitely paranoid.

Heading in the direction of her desk, she took in the sight of a small wooden box sitting on her stack of files and she felt her heart start to thump against her ribs. She took a couple of deep breaths, he couldn't have possibly been in here. There had to be a rational explanation. Knowing she shouldn't touched it, she stepped away from the box and towards the door. Pulling it open she saw her actions gained her immediate attention from Hector. He frowned at her in concern. "Is everything Ok Ma'am?"

"I was just wondering who was in my office a few minutes ago."

Hector frowned at her. "No one. Why?"

"Another gift has been left at my desk." Jenny took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "Could you phone Agent Gibbs and tell him to come up here."

He nodded, his skin turning paler at the implications of yet another inexplicable security breach. He turned to Cynthia, who immediately picked up the phone. On seeing that Jenny was heading back into her office he followed her. His eyes travelled over to her desk, taking in the small wooden box. He nodded towards her sofa, "You should sit down Ma'am."

Jenny didn't reply, instead heading straight towards her decanter of bourbon. Hector's voice stopped her. "You shouldn't touch it, just in case….." he trailed off

Nodding, Jenny stepped away from the cabinet but she found she couldn't sit, she couldn't just do nothing and wait.

As it turned out she didn't have to wait long, Jethro appeared only seconds later. "What's the problem?"

"Another breach," Hector grunted.

A dark frown descended on Gibbs face. "How?"

Hector shook his head. "I have no idea," he admitted grimly.

Gibbs turned towards Jenny. "Jen," he prompted.

She didn't look at him as she replied, "I went to freshen up, I thought I heard someone in here but I dismissed it. I was only gone about two minutes, but when I came out, that box was sitting on the desk."

"And it's not been touched?"

"No."

"I'll get some gloves and an evidence bag and take it down to Abby."

"Any idea what could be in it?" Hector asked.

Jenny shook her head, while Gibbs replied, "We're not taking any chances, I'll tell Abby to open it in one of those container things."

"Very technical," Jenny murmured under her breath.

Ignoring her, Gibbs nodded towards the bottles on her cabinet and continued, "We'll take any open containers as well."

Jenny nodded. "I'll come with you."

"No," he replied sharply.

"I want to know what's in that box, and I don't want to sit around up here and wait."

Gibbs eyed her for a few moments before relenting. "Fine." When he saw that Hector was about to protest, he added, "But you have to stay with me at all times."

"Agreed."

* * *

Abby smiled as Gibbs walked into her lab, the smile rapidly falling from her face when she saw not only the expression on his face, but also that Jenny was behind him. Her gaze fell to the evidence bag in his hand "What do you have for me?"

"Need you to tell me. It was left on the Director's desk."

Taking it from him, she headed towards one of the incubators. "I'll open it in here, I don't want a repeat of that plague incident."

Gibbs nodded as Abby placed it inside and pushed her hands through the gloves. She ran her fingers along the edge of the box until she came to the golden clasp. "This thing looks old," she commented as she flicked it open. A small gasp escaped her as it fell open. "Oh Wow!"

Both Gibbs and Jenny stepped forward to take a closer look. Abby picked the necklace out of the satin lined box, holding it in her gloved hand. Two thirds of the chain was made out of thick silver, until it reached a shining emerald on both sides, followed by what look like diamond before both side met on a heavy silver cross, the metal making it up twisting like vines, an indent sat in the centre of the cross, and it was filled by yet another gleaming emerald. "This is stunning!" Abby breathed out.

Jenny frowned at it, she'd never seen it before, and yet it felt so familiar to her. She tried to concentrate on that feeling, but it was like it was hidden in a haze. So instead she tried to focus on the question Jethro was asking her.

"Have you seen it before?"

Despite the feeling of familiarity she couldn't rid herself of, Jenny shook her head. "No."

The young Goth ran her finger tip along necklace. "Well there isn't anything on it, no trace of powder. It looks-" she squinted at it. "Old." on catching the exasperated look on Gibbs face, she clarified, "I mean really old. I don't know too much about jewellery, but I do know that up until the 14th century stones weren't cut, similar size stones were collected and polished. And if you look at these stones they're all different sizes and slightly differently shaped. This could be worth an absolute fortune."

"I need something more useful than that, Abs" Gibbs pressed her.

"Of course. I'll run the usual screen for prints, but if this is the same guy I doubt he's going to have left any this time. I think our best bet is to try and trace the necklace, it's most likely one of a kind. I have a couple of contacts in the antique business, I'll get in touch."

"Don't try to trace it, do it," Gibbs growled.

Abby saluted him. "Yes Sir!"

Rolling his eyes, he herded Jenny out of the lab. "You alright?"

Jenny nodded. "Yes."

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply, when his cell phone interrupted them, chirping happily. He answered it, snapping, "Gibbs." He listened carefully for a few moments, and then hanging up, he looked back at Jenny. "Body of a Petty Officer's been found in an alleyway just off Virginia Avenue." He sighed irritably, "I need to go."

Jenny nodded somewhat distractedly, her mind still on the necklace. "Of course."

"I'll take you back up to your office."

They walked in silence, with Gibbs watching her closely, her mind was obviously elsewhere, and her behaviour was starting to concern him more and more. As they approached Hector, he told her, "If I can I'll come round later tonight."

"You don't have to."

"I know."

Jenny gave him a small smile, and squeezing his elbow lightly replied, "Thank you, Jethro."

As Gibbs walked away, he couldn't help but curse the timing of the case. He didn't want to leave her, he was worried and he wanted to stay with her. He knew this was worrying her, but he also knew she'd never let that show to anyone else around her, and that was adding another layer to the tension surrounding her.

He frowned, the moment he could get away from this case he would, dismissing his overwhelming need to be close to her as natural concern for her situation.

* * *

As it turned out, it was several hours before Gibbs felt the case was stable enough to be left for the night. His team had been up the night before and they needed to sleep. He on the other hand, had driven straight to Jenny's. He paused at the front door, nodding a greeting in the direction of the night's detail. Heading into her study, which was pitch black, he was somewhat relieved to realised she must be upstairs sleeping. It reassured him slightly, the last thing she needed now was to be fighting exhaustion on top of everything else.

Settling down onto the sofa, he closed his eyes and let sleep claim him. He wasn't sure how much later it was that his eyes opened again. What he was aware of was the sound of someone moving around upstairs. Reaching for his sig, he moved stealthily in the direction of the noise.

* * *

Jenny's eyes snapped open as she heard footsteps. She sat bolt upright, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness of her bedroom. Pushing the covers from herself, she looked around the room. Hitting the bedside lamp, she saw that her door was still firmly shut and there was no one there. Getting to her feet, she walked towards the door leading to her en suite, checking that that too was empty. Screwing up her eyes, she shook her head. There was no one there she told herself.

Leaning against the wall, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head jerked back up when she saw her bedroom door open, and she let out a sigh of relief as she saw it was Jethro.

He in turn lowered his gun. "You ok?"

"Fine. I just….I thought I heard something."

His eyes scanned over the room and paused on her right pillow. "What side were you sleeping on?" he asked.

"Left, I always do." Her eyes followed his, and she let out a horrified gasp as she took in what he'd seen. She moved closer shaking her head as she stared at the familiar necklace. "No. No, that's just not possible. She glanced up at him almost desperately. "Jethro, how could….." she trailed off.

Moving closer, Gibbs wrapped an arm around her, lowering his head to hers. "It might be a duplicate."

She nodded. "Yeah," she replied hopefully.

She watched him closely as he pulled out his cell, his free hand still staying on her arm, and for some reason she found the slight contact unbelievably comforting. Concentrating on keeping her breathing steady, she focussed on his words, listening as he first alerted her security to begin searching the grounds and the house and then checked with Abby as to where she'd left the necklace in the lab. By the time he was talking to the night security and asking them to check it was still there, her eyes were shut as she awaited the answer.

She re-opened them when she heard him say goodbye. Glancing up at him, she saw the strain in his face, and knew the answer. "It's the same one, isn't it?"

He nodded. "There's no sign of it back at NCIS."

Jenny reached for it, picking it up she was shocked by her reluctance to hand it over to Jethro as she had originally planned. Her grasp around it tightened momentarily, before she finally handed it over.

Taking it from her, he tucked it into his jacket pocket. "I'll arrange to have it taken back to the lab. We'll need to find you somewhere else to stay as well."

"No!" Jenny shook her head. "I've already told you that I'm not being forced out of my home."

He stared at her incredulously. "Jenny this is the second time this guy's gotten past your security and into the house. The entire house and grounds need to be checked to figure out how he got in. You can't stay here!"

"Yes I can."

"Well you're sure as hell not staying in s room."

Jenny found that she actually agreed with him on that point, staying in this room made her feel a bit uncomfortable now. "I'll move into one of the spare bedrooms."

"I'll have to check it first, make sure it's secure."

"Ok."

He walked her to one of the bedrooms at the back of the house, and she leaned against the door jamb, watching him as he checked the windows. He stopped in front of her and her breath caught slightly as his eyes travelled over her. "You sure about this?" he finally asked quietly.

"I'm a big girl, Jethro. I'm not running away."

"I'll be downstairs, if you need me."

She nodded, her eyes locking onto his. Gibbs hand grasping around her arm, calloused fingers brushing against her soft skin. He had just leaned closer when he heard the murmuring voices of Jenny's detail downstairs, and coming back to his senses, he pulled away. "Night, Jen," he mumbled softly, turning away.

She watched him go, and then pushed her door shut softly. Turning around, Jenny found herself starting into a pair of dark eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Flashbacks are in italics, apart from the last two words which just happen to be in italics.**

**Thanks for all the reviews so far :)**

**I hope this answers at least some of your questions**

* * *

"Ma'am I would really prefer that considering the events of yesterday that I stayed in the office with you."

Jenny shook her head. "No, I've made my decision and I'm sticking to it," she told Hector firmly.

"Agent Gibbs won't be happy."

"No change there then," Jenny muttered and then glancing up from the file she was reading and on seeing the worry written over her head of security's face, she continued, "Hector, I appreciate your concern, but I'm safe in here."

"But-"

She held up her hand, silencing him. "You'll be in the outer office, and that's an order."

Hector drew his lips in so tightly that they just about disappeared, the edges turning white. Finally he gave a sharp nod. "Of course Ma'am."

Jenny watched him go. Waiting until the door shut heavily behind him, she sank back in her chair. After last night her head was still spinning, she just couldn't stop thinking about it.

_She stared into the dark eyes, deep brown, the pupils sharp and watching her intently. She swallowed heavily, she knew that she should scream right about now but she couldn't manage it. In all honesty she wasn't quite as afraid as she knew she should be. _

_Her gaze finally moved from his eyes, taking over the rest of him. He was tall, just over six feet and broad shouldered with it. His hair was dark brown, verging on black. He was dressed in a dark t-shirt and black jeans. _

_He stared back at her, his hard face finally breaking into a small smile, causing it to soften slightly. "You're not screaming," he stated, his voice deep and low. He was very properly spoken, he also had a hint of an accent that was so muted she couldn't quite place it._

"_No," she agreed._

"_Do you recognise me?" he asked, his voice holding a hopeful tone._

_Jenny stared at him for another moment. She was sure she'd never seen him before, and yet he looked so familiar. Finally she shook her head. "No," she answered hesitantly._

_For the briefest moment a flash of disappointment appeared on his face, but it was gone just as quickly. He half turned away from her. "Of course not," he murmured. "It was foolish of me to think otherwise." Then, as though he realised something, he looked back at her, his eyes locking onto hers. "If you don't recognise me, then why are you not calling for help?"_

_Jenny wrapped her arms around herself, giving a small shrug, unable to tear her gaze from his. "I don't know, I just know that you're not going to hurt me."_

"_How?"_

_Her eyes scanned his face. "I don't know."_

_He moved closer, so close he was almost touching her. "Do I seem familiar?"_

_She nodded. "Yes, but I don't know who you are, so I don't know why I feel like I do."_

_His face broke into a wide smile. "I was so afraid that after so long you wouldn't remember me."_

_Jenny shook her head. "But I don't know who you are," she insisted._

"_But you haven't forgotten me completely."_

_Jenny felt her head pound in confusion. "I-" she broke off, unsure of what to say._

_His wide smile softened slightly. "I suppose I should re-introduce myself."_

"_Yes," Jenny replied, somewhat faintly. "And if you could explain why you've been following me that would be helpful."_

"_Of course," he answered politely. "I feel it will be best to start from the very beginning of my story."_

"_I'm sure it would be."_

_His eyes gleamed with faint amusement at her sarcasm. He motioned with his hands for her to sit on the bed, and she did so, although hesitantly. Once she was seated she looked back up at him, only to find that his attention was no longer on her, instead his eyes were focused on the window, as he stared out into the night. Finally he spoke._

"_My name is Henri Dubois, I was born in 1195-"_

"_Excuse me!" Jenny interrupted. "That's not possible," she scoffed._

_A faint smile played on his mouth. "I assure you," he replied dryly. "It is. I would have though all my stunts would have shown you that I'm not strictly human."_

_Jenny gave a slight nod, her hand going to her forehead to check that she wasn't running a fever. She frowned when she saw that she wasn't. It was probably one of the few situations where it was better to be hallucinating. His voice broke the ensuing silence, "This is real."_

"_No offence but I kind of wish it wasn't."_

"_I used to make the same wish everyday," he told her wryly. His eyes travelled over her once more. "But I don't anymore." _

"_Why?"_

"_If I could continue with my story then you might understand more," he joked._

"_Of course, continue."_

_His mouth twitched in amusement again. "As I was saying. I was born in 1195 in a small village in central France. I was the second son to a baron, and therefore I lived in what was then considered luxury. In time both my parents died, and the title passed to my brother Jacque. He knew that he would have to marry, and so he arranged for a local landowner and his daughter to visit, to consider terms." His eyes and voice softened at the memory. "Eloise was beautiful, intelligent and fun. Over the course of a few days we fell in love. I told my brother, fully expecting that he would have me beaten and cast me out of our hold, but he didn't. He'd already seen that we were falling in love and so he gave us his blessing." Henri, turned to look at her. "I gave her a necklace as a wedding gift, the emeralds matched her eyes so wonderfully." Jenny swallowed heavily, waiting for the next statement, knowing that it would be important, and she wasn't disappointed. Finally he continued, "When I gave her it, I promised her that no matter what it would always be hers and that I would forever give gifts only to her. I have always met that promise."_

Jenny was snapped back to the present by her door clicking open, and Gibbs strolling into her office. He stopped at her desk, a frown crossing over his face. "Are you Ok?" he asked.

She managed a slight nod. "Of course," she replied.

"You look like you're somewhere else entirely."

"I was," she told him honestly. Then slightly taken aback by her candour, she added, "I didn't sleep well."

He continued to eye her in barely disguised concern. "I'm not surprised."

The moment becoming far too emotional for her liking, Jenny asked, "What did you want, Jethro?"

"I'm going down to see Abby about the necklace. I was wondering if you wanted to come with."

Jenny glanced over at her paperwork. Neither her heart or brain was in it today, and even if it was just going downstairs, getting away from her desk sounded like the best idea she'd heard all day. She nodded. "Let's go."

Gibbs waited for her to stand, before walking by her side, out of the door. Hector started in surprise as they passed him. "Ma'am where are you going?"

It was Gibbs who replied, "I'm taking her to see Abby, I'll bring her back up."

"I should go with you," Hector told her.

Again Gibbs cut off any reply, "I'll be with her the entire time, you should stay here, and watch the office."

Hector bristled at the order. "It's not your job to decide who guards Director Sheppard, Agent Gibbs."

Jenny rolled her eyes at the waves of testosterone that were rolling off the two men in waves, she half expected them to start marking their territory. "Hector, I will be fine with Agent Gibbs, and I shouldn't be gone any longer than half an hour."

The burly man's eyes narrowed. "If you feel that's for the best Ma'am."

"I do." On seeing Gibbs almost triumphant smirk, Jenny made a mental note to yell at him later.

As they walked down to Abby's lab. Gibbs couldn't help but watch her. Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It wasn't like Jenny to be so absent. "You know," he told her. "That you don't need to feel like you have to stay in the house. After all that's happened no one would think any less of you if-"

"I don't know why I have to keep repeating myself," Jenny ground out, interrupting him. "I'm fine where I am. Why do you all think I'd be any safer in an unknown house? He will get to me no matter where I am."

"You don't know that," Gibbs ground out.

Jenny shook her head, unable to say anything else without giving too much away. They continued the walk to Abby's lab in silence.

The glass door swished opened, admitting their entry, and Abby's face lit up when she saw them. "Director, it's good to see you, I didn't expect you to come as well. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't have, you should have, because it's always nice when you come to see me." She frowned slightly, adding, "Although I kinda wish it wasn't because someone's stalking you."

Unsure of how to reply to that sentiment, Jenny inclined her head to the elderly man sitting on Abby's right. "Are you going to introduce us?" she asked.

"Oh! Of course! In all the excitement I forgot." She beamed over at the man, who flushed at her attention. "This is Simon Fraser, he's an antiques expert who specializes in jewellery. He's a friend of a friend of a friend." Abby squinted thoughtfully. "I think that's right," she mused. "Anyway." She shook her head. "That's not the important part, the important part is that he's agreed to come and take a look at the necklace, he could be able to help us trace where it's from."

Jenny looked over at Mr Fraser and offered him her hand, which he took and shook vigorously. "It's a pleasure to meet you Director Shepard. I've seen you on the news before, of course, but this is an honour and you're even prettier in real life."

Smiling at the unexpected compliment, Jenny replied, "Thank you. It was good of you to agree to come."

Mr Fraser flashed her a crooked grin. "I must admit," he wheezed. "To having my own motives, if this is real then it is quite a find in my world." He finally let Jenny's hand drop. "May I see it?" he asked.

Abby nodded, and retrieved the item, handing it over carefully. He eyed it with great interest, pulling out a small eye magnifier and peering at it even more. "This," he breathed out. "Is exquisite. Most definitely real and made before the 14th century. I've never seen anything like it, it was no doubt specially made. The giver would have been reasonably well off, although he's not used the most expensive gems of that era, if the gift was to celebrate a betrothal, as was common in those days. Then it could be he had it commissioned to suit his betrothed's colouring."

"Can you trace it though?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"I will certainly look through and find out if this has been catalogued in the past. Medieval jewellery is rare, most was melted down to make money, so it shouldn't take much time to find out. I should however war you that I don't believe this piece is catalogued. Such a find would have become part of a collection. If it had been bought by a private dealer, then the cost of that sale would have also been recorded. Most likely this is a family heirloom, in which case you will struggle to track it down-"

Jenny tried to listen to what else Mr Fraser had to say, but her mind was drifting, yet again.

"_You're not seriously trying to tell me that you think I'm her!" Jenny exclaimed._

_Henri looked at her seriously. "I don't think, I know."_

"_That's impossible."_

"_Believe me, more is possible in this world than most would think. You are her re-incarnation, you are her, just in a different time with a different name. And I have waited for you for almost eight hundred years."_

"_Why?" Jenny asked, feeling more confused than ever._

"_Because I love you, because it was my fault that you died!"_

_Jenny stiffened at that. "What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed. "What made it your fault?"_

"_Not long after our marriage, my brother succumbed to a fever and I was left to take over the keep. We were happy for years, but then I stupidly decided that I should play my part in the crusades. As a second son I had always been groomed for it, and I felt the need to fulfil that duty. You begged me not to go, but I insisted. So you gave me your necklace, and told me to keep it with me, so at least I would have part of you with me."_

"_I was away for nigh on a year when I decided to return." He smiled at her. "And all I could think of was how I was going to get to see your face once more." His smile faltered as he recalled more. "A couple of men from the keep has accompanied me, one was my oldest friend, Arnaud Moreau. We were ambushed on our way back, and he was so badly injured that we thought him dead. Normally we would have stayed to bury him, but we knew more of the enemy wasn't far behind. I made the decision not to run the risk of sacrificing more men, and that we should continue on our way as quickly as possible." He shook his head, "I even refused to allow myself to feel guilt, telling myself it had been the only way. To carry him would have slowed us down and made us more vulnerable to attacks. I'm ashamed to say that by the time we had reached home, I had pushed the issue to the back of my mind."_

_He fell silent for a few moments, giving Jenny the opportunity to speak. "I don't really understand how this ties in?"_

"_You will," he assured her. "For the first few days of my return we were blissfully happy, and then you became sick. Your lady maid was also a healer and she tried various concoctions to try and nurse you back to health, but everyday you grew a little bit weaker because of this unknown illness. After four days you were only just clinging to life. I begged her to do something, but she told me that it was in God's hands now. I couldn't accept that, so I decided to try and seek out my own cure. Once again you begged me not to go, and gave me your necklace when I did. I travelled on my own this time, and was not far from the keep when I was stopped by a cloaked rider. When he pulled down his hood, I was so shocked that I almost fell off my horse, it was Arnaud-"_

"_You dead friend?" Jenny interrupted, frowning._

_Henri gave a light laugh. "Always interrupting," he teased. His face then turned sombre, and he nodded. "But yes, it was Arnaud. He explained that when we left him he hadn't been dead, and as he had lain there, he'd begged for someone or something to save him, and his wish had been granted. He said that there were far greater powers in this universe than we knew, and that he'd heard that you were sick and he'd wanted to help. I was sceptical at first, but as he spoke he told me about how this would not only cure you, but also mean that we would live for eternity with each other." He looked up at her desperately. "I had nothing left to lose, you were dying and I needed to save you. So I agreed to the ritual. Once I came round, Arnaud was gone. I raced back to the keep, sure that you would be healed and asking for me." His voice grew weaker, and he swallowed heavily, pain filled eyes meeting hers. "You weren't, instead you were in the final moments of your life. I held you close and prayed. It was all to no avail though and you died in my arms without ever opening your eyes again. I couldn't understand why it hadn't worked, and I kept your necklace so that I would always have part of you with me, just as you had intended. At first I thought that the ritual couldn't have worked, but I grew stronger, I could move through walls, any injuries I obtained healed within moments, and I began to crave blood."_

_Jenny jerked at that statement, her eyes widening. "You drink blood," she muttered under her breath. "So you're a vampire, then?"_

"_Not exactly. I'm a product of dark magic, if I don't drink blood I'll still survive but I'll grow weaker and become a shadow of my former self, until I'll lose my mind and attack everything and everyone in sight until I've returned to my former strength. I don't attack innocent people, I tend to stick to animals."_

"_Tend to?"_

"_Occasionally I've played the role of avenger, getting rid of those who commit crimes and aren't punished by human law."_

"_Of course," Jenny breathed disbelievingly. If she hadn't been sitting down already then she was pretty sure her legs would have given out. A thought occurred to her, and she glanced back up at him, frowning. "You still haven't explained why you think I'm Eloise."_

_He nodded. "I know, I'm getting to that. It obviously wasn't long before the changes I'd went through became obvious to everyone else, and as a result a large number moved out of the keep and the surrounding village, and I was considered a devil." He shrugged, "Maybe they were right. Not that I cared at that time, I spent most of my time at your grave. About two months after your death, your lady's maid came to me and informed me that there was a clairvoyant at the gates, begging to speak to me. I let her in, hoping that she could give me answers."_

"_And did she?"_

"_Yes. She told me that Arnaud had tricked me, he'd wanted revenge for me leaving him to die. He wanted me to suffer. He was right when he had said that by changing I could save you, but he missed out the fact that I would have to turn you. By neglecting to tell me that fact he made certain of the fact that I would live for an eternity without you, something he knew was my worst fear." Henri ran his hand over his chin, his voice growing hoarse as he relived those moments. "At that point I wanted nothing more than to destroy myself, but she wasn't finished yet. She also told me that Eloise would be re-born, in a land that we did not yet know of and she was able to give me a date, October 23__rd__ 1966."_

_Jenny stared at him. "That could just be a coincidence," she stressed._

"_And the fact you look exactly like her, that you behave as she did, that you have her mannerisms, is that a coincidence too?" he demanded._

"_I can understand your guilt, but you didn't make her ill. And you cannot just jump to the assumption that I'm her." Jenny got to her feet in an attempt to leave the room. She had just reached the door when he appeared in front of her, blocking her path. One hand curved around her wrist, while the other cupped her check. _

"_Don't go," he breathed desperately. "I have searched for you for so long, watched you so that I knew for certain that it was you. You look at me and you feel like you know me. That's because you do. Don't walk away, please."_

_Trying to catch her breath, Jenny stared at him and after a long moment she finally nodded. "I won't go," she whispered, instantly feeling him relax._

_He looked at her as though he were trying to memorise every detail of her face, until finally he stepped sideways. "I have more I need to tell you," he informed her. "But I feel I've said enough for tonight. With your permission I'd like to come and see you again tomorrow night."_

"_Ok," Jenny replied quietly. She couldn't explain why, but she actually wanted to see him again._

_Henri smiled, his eyes lighting up. "I'll see you then," he said. Before disappearing out of sight. Leaving Jenny feeling slightly shaken as she sank down onto the bed._

"Jenny! Jenny!"

Jenny snapped out of her trance and found herself staring up into Gibbs concerned blue eyes. "What is it?" she asked dazedly, belatedly realising that she was sitting on Abby's stool.

"We've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes. What were you thinking about?"

Jenny shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She looked up at Mr Fraser's anxious face. "I'm sorry, I missed what you said."

"Simply that this might not be an easy piece to trace." He still held the necklace in his hand, and Jenny had to fight the bizarre notion to grab it from him.

Instead she nodded. "Well in that case I should get back to work."

"I'll walk you back up," Gibbs told her, his tone informing her that there was no place for discussion, and so she didn't argue.

As they headed into the elevator, Gibbs asked, "Jen, are you Ok?"

"Of course," she replied automatically. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

They remained silent the rest of the way to her office, although Jenny could still feel his eyes boring into her. As they reached her office door, his cell phone rang. He answered it, barking down the line, "Gibbs."

He briefly listened to the person on the other end, before hanging up. "Problems with the case," he told her.

"You should go then."

He stared at her a moment, and then nodded, turning and leaving her beside Hector. Jenny for once didn't wait to hear Hector's customary greeting before she slipped into her office.

Approaching her desk she saw another perfect white lily sitting on her desk. She knew that she shouldn't touch it, and that she should inform Hector, maybe even call Jethro back, but she didn't. Instead a small smile played about her face and she picked up the note that was tied to it with green ribbon, her fingers running over the ornate script.

_Until tonight._


	6. Chapter 6

**A shorter but important update for you all :)**

**Thanks for the reviews so far.**

* * *

Jenny sipped nervously at her bourbon. She glanced over at the clock on the mantelpiece, it was already after nine. Her lips pursed, they hadn't agreed on a time, but she felt like she'd been waiting forever. A horrendous thought suddenly occurred to her, what if she'd hallucinated the entire meeting, maybe everything was piling on top of her and she'd finally flipped.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice emanating behind her. "I hope you haven't been waiting long?"

She turned and smiled when she saw Henri, his eyes gleaming and his dark dishevelled hair raked back from his forehead. "I was beginning to think you were just a figment of my imagination. Her smile deepened slightly. "I suppose you still could be," she joked.

He moved closer to her. "If that was the case," he told her quietly, his voice holding a note of amusement. "You'd have an extremely over-active imagination."

Laughing lightly, Jenny felt herself relax slightly. It had been so long since she'd had a light-hearted conversation with anyone, and she hadn't quite realised how much she'd missed it. "Would you like a drink before we talk?" she asked.

The smile slid from his face, and he nodded. "I think I'm going to need one. A neat scotch if you have it."

"Of course," Jenny replied. Swiftly handing him a glass. Once he took it she wriggled her fingers slightly, and he looked at her questionably. "Cramp," she told him, shrugging nonchalantly.

His face fell further. "Do you suffer from it a lot?"

"I've been tired recently," she told him, frowning in confusion at the sudden topic of conversation. Deciding to steer the conversation in a different direction, she asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Henri gestured towards her sofa. "Please, sit."

She did so, and he sat beside her, staring at her hands for a moment before finally looking up into her eyes. "Last night I wasn't completely open with you, I missed out some vital details that you need to know."

Jenny's eyes widened almost imperceptively. "Such as?" she asked calmly, taking a sip of her drink.

"I did not tell you why your." He coughed and amended himself, "Why Eloise's death was my fault. I did not tell you everything that the seer told me."

Jenny's voice quietened as she asked, "What didn't you tell me, exactly?"

"That Arnaud cursed you."

Staring blankly at him for a moment, Jenny tried to reign in her chaotic thoughts. "Cursed me," she repeated. "How? And why?"

"Arnaud and I were close friends, and so he knew exactly how to hurt me, and he knew that the best way to make me suffer was to make me live without you. I did not realise how bitter he was, and so when he came into his new powers he made his way back to the keep and placed a powerful curse on you. Your death was my punishment."

Jenny gave his hand a light squeeze. "You're not responsible for his actions, it wasn't your fault. Anyway, it's in the past now so-"

He stopped her. "But it isn't. The curse did not end when you died, it carries forward into all of the lives you'll ever live. In each life you'll die prematurely from an incurable disease."

Her hand slipped from its place on his, and Jenny clamoured to her feet, feeling as though the walls of the room were closing in on her. "That's not possible," she whispered.

"I'm afraid it's the truth. You may not see it yet, but you're already showing signs, that is why I decided to finally appear to you." He shook his head. "You have no idea how much I wish this wasn't the case."

"What signs?" Jenny demanded indignantly, her mind racing.

Henri sighed resignedly, "You are tired, your muscles ache and spasm, and you have been clumsier than normal."

"I haven't been sleeping well," Jenny snapped at him.

"There is more to it than that, and deep down you know it."

Jenny licked her lips desperately. "Why would you tell me this?" she demanded to know. "Why let me suffer any longer than I have to?"

He moved in front of her, his hands curling around her fore-arms. "Because I can save you this time," he told her.

She swallowed nervously. "How?"

"By making you like me, immortal."

For a long moment, Jenny just stared at him, then she shook her head, shoving him away. "You could be lying to me. This could all be a trick."

"You're right," he admitted. "It could be. Which is why I will not change you here and now. I want you to believe me, to know for sure that I'm telling you the truth. Which is why I'm going to leave you alone for the next few days. I have business elsewhere and it will give you a chance to confirm what I have just told you." Cupping her chin, he tilted her face so that she was looking at him. "I would never lie to you, or trick you. This has to be your choice, I will not force it upon you. I love you too much for that."

Jenny pulled away slowly, her eyes still locked onto his. "I think you should go now," she whispered.

"You are understandably upset, if you want I could stay with you?"

"No," she shook her head. She might not want to be alone, but in all honesty it was not his comfort she wanted, and he didn't need to know that. "No," she repeated. "I need time to think. You should go and take care of whatever it is you need to take care of."

"I will come back," he told her firmly.

She nodded. "I know."

His hand reached out to brush her cheek, and she let him. Closing her eyes though, she pictured someone else standing their in his place. She felt his touch fade, and when she opened her eyes he was gone, and she knew that he was no longer watching her.

* * *

Gibbs stared up at the frontage of Jenny's elegant townhouse, his fingers tapping agitatedly off his steering wheel. His eyes focussed on the dim light emanating from what he knew to be her study's window. He glared at it. Something was wrong with her, her behaviour today had been undeniably odd and for a moment in Abby's lab, utterly terrifying. He'd never seen her so unresponsive.

His gut was churning constantly, and had been for the last few days. None of this felt right, there was an undercurrent to the whole situation that he just couldn't quite figure out, and he hated that.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Gibbs stepped out of his car, and made his way to the front door, nodding a greeting to Jenny's night security as he passed. He immediately made his way to the study, and was surprised to find her asleep on her sofa. Moving quietly closer, he knew that he should wake her, that she'd be stiff in the morning if she stayed there. "Jen," he whispered softly, his hand running over shoulder. "Jenny, wake up."

Her eyes obligingly fluttered open, and she stared at him for a second, mumbling questionably, "Jethro?"

He leaned closer, nodding, and much to his surprise, she leaned in closer still, pressing her lips to his.

Gibbs jumped slightly, but then relaxed as he felt her fingers curve around his collar, tugging him closer. With one hand round her waist, he angled himself so that he was almost on top of her. Stroking the edge of one cheekbone, he felt her tongue run along his bottom lip, seeking entry that he promptly granted.

Her kiss was greedy, and he responded in kind, it had been so long and he'd almost forgotten how easy it was to lose himself in her. This kiss though was different to all the others though, it held almost a desperate edge to it, a ferocity that even in their more emotional moments together, they had never equalled.

His hand cupped a breast through her top, kneading it gently, causing a whimper to eek from her lips. She in turn nipped his bottom lip gently, and he growled deeply.

The noise seemed to pull her back to reality, and she pulled away, staring at him with wild eyes. "You're really here," she whispered.

Gibbs gave a nod, unsure what he could really say to such a statement.

Jenny stared at him in what was obviously growing horror and dismay. "I didn't…..I mean we shouldn't have…this shouldn't have happened." She clamoured unsteadily to her feet, pushing him away when he attempted to help. "Don't," she mumbled. "Just go," she told him, before heading towards the stairs, not once looking behind her.

* * *

Jenny pushed her bedroom door shut and leaned heavily against it. She shouldn't have done that, but when she'd woken to find him there, she hadn't been able to believe it. Deep down she'd known she wasn't dreaming, but she wanted him, wanted to draw some comfort from him. She shook her head, it was stupid and she shouldn't have done it. Staring out of her window and into the night, all Jenny wanted was normality, instead she appeared to be in a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.


	7. Chapter 7

**In real life such a diagnosis would not be made as quickly, but I wanted to move the story on a bit, rather than spend chapters covering that bit.**

**All lines from the show are from series 5 episode 12, stakeout.**

* * *

As she stood in the descending elevator, Jenny refused to meet Hector's gaze. She knew she had surprised her head of security by informing him that she was heading to Autopsy - after all it wasn't usually somewhere she went willingly - but she refused to justify her visit, and she knew he'd never ask, so the resulting journey was carried out in silence.

As they finally stepped out onto the silent floor, she turned to him. "I'd like you to wait out here," she told him quietly.

For a moment he simply stared at her, as though he were trying to work out what was going on. Finally though, he gave a sharp nod. "Of course Ma'am."

She made to step forward, and then stopped abruptly, turning to face him again. "I'd also like the knowledge that I made this visit to remain between us and Dr Mallard. I see no need to inform anyone else."

A flicker of concern flashed across his face before his expression settled back into his trained expression that gave away nothing. "If that's what you want," he replied. Jenny nodded quickly, and he then added, "I'll ensure that no-one interrupts your visit."

Jenny managed a small smile. "Thank you Hector, I'd appreciate that." With that said she spun on her heel and turned away. She swallowed nervously as the glass doors opened with their customary hiss, and stepped inside, silently hoping their would be no uncovered corpses present. There wasn't, and so she let out a small sigh of relief and only belatedly realised that Ducky was watching her from his desk. He gave her his usual warm smile, telling her almost teasingly, "If you're here about my requisition forms then I'm afraid you're far too early, I haven't even started them yet."

Despite the despair and panic that had seemed to overwhelm her over the past few hours, the statement managed to provoke a tiny laugh. She shook her head. "I somehow didn't think you would have."

Getting to his feet, Ducky walked closer to her, and clasped her hand warmly in his own for a brief second in greeting. "Well then, what can I help you with? You don't tend to often stray into my neck of the woods my dear, and the fact that you have makes me extremely curious."

For a moment, Jenny couldn't bring herself to speak, still struggling with what she'd been told the previous night, and the ramifications it held for her if it were to be proved true. She briefly wondered if maybe ignorance really was bliss, because in all honesty the truth didn't seem very freeing. Finally she cleared her throat, and deciding she needed to know, spoke, "I've not been feeling myself recently, and I was wondering if maybe you could shed some light on that problem for me."

Ducky's brow furrowed in concern, and waving her over to a chair, they both sat down. His hands fluttered nervously for a second, until he finally replied, "With everything that is going on right now, I would be most surprised if you didn't feel upset in some way."

Jenny shook her head, she'd expected this. "No," she protested lightly. "I haven't felt well for a month or so now. I've been tired, my muscles hurt and cramp all the time-"

"That could be the signs of exhaustion, you work yourself into the ground at times. You are allowed to rest you know," Ducky reminded her.

"If it's that then fine, but-" Jenny stopped abruptly, unsure of what to say next.

Sensing her struggle, he intercepted, "But you have a gut feeling."

"I suppose you could call it that," Jenny muttered.

His eyes ran over her, and he took in her pallor and the barely concealed worry in her eyes and nodded. "In that case I'll do a blood test, I'll get Abby to run it through and I should have it back by lunchtime."

"I'd prefer that this remained between us," Jenny told him.

"Of course," he assured her. "I'll tell her it's for a John Doe."

"Thank you, Ducky."

He patted her arm in a reassuring manner. "I'll come up and see you when I have the results, but try not to worry too much, it could easily be something minor, or even nothing at all."

Jenny managed a tight smile, although deep down she knew that ship had sailed.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Ziva asked McGee, watching as the younger Agent stare intently at his computer screen.

"Trying to find Petty Officer Murphy's supposed storage locker."

"Ah." Her eyes slid to where Tony was sitting in his chair, casually flicking through a magazine. "Why are you not helping him?" she asked impatiently.

He barely glanced up from his page. "Never send a real Agent to do a Probie's job, Zee-vah."

Making an exasperated sound of disgust, Ziva headed to her desk. Her eyes lighting up when they landed on the large sandwich sitting there. "Lunch! Finally!" She picked it up, eyeing it in delight. "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow."

"Horse," Tony corrected her automatically.

"Why would I eat a horse?" Ziva asked in bewilderment.

"Because that's the expression."

"Pft! That makes no sense," she scoffed. She grinned over at McGee. "Thank you for getting my lunch."

He finally looked up from his screen. "Wasn't me," he told her. "It was Tony." He nodded in the direction of the now grinning Agent.

Ziva's face fell, a veil of suspicion falling over her face. "What have you done to it?"

His face took on a extremely fake look of hurt. "You think I would do something to your food?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied immediately.

"You need to learn to trust, Ziva."

She stared at her sandwich, then at Dinozzo's grinning face and then back at her sandwich. She couldn't take the risk she decided. "I'm not eating it," she announced, making to throw it in the bin.

"Wait!" he yelled. Ziva paused, grinning at her triumph, and let him snatch it from her hands. Her smile slid from her face however when he leaned back in his chair, and took a massive bit.

"Mmmmm," he glanced up at her. "It's really, really good," he informed her through a mouthful. Swallowing, he grinned at her. "Like I said, you need to learn to trust."

Ziva's eyes narrowed at him. "You," she told him pointedly. "Will live to regret that."

"Uh huh, sure," he told her, his smug grin still firmly in place.

Sensing an imminent fight, McGee interrupted, "Any development on the Director's case?"

"Nope," Tony replied. "And there were no break-ins either. Looks like the extra security has scared him off."

"I don't think so," Ziva told them, sinking back into her seat. "Whoever this is has gotten past security both here and at her house on multiple occasions, if anything that should make him feel unbeatable, make him take more risks."

"Well it hasn't," Tony shrugged casually. "This guy obviously doesn't like to follow convention. Plus the necklace is still in Abby's lab."

"Any luck tracing it," McGee asked hopefully.

"No." Ziva shook her head. "Abby's expert was unable to find any record of it." She turned her attention back to Tony and added, "If anything we should be more careful, he knows how to break through our defences and this silence could mean he's planning something new, something big."

Making a dismissive sound in the back of his throat, Tony turned his attention back to his sandwich, muttering, "You need to learn to relax as well, this guy isn't as good as he thinks he is."

"Then why haven't we caught him yet!" Gibbs barked from behind Tony.

Tony jumped in his seat, his sandwich falling to the desk.. He tilted his head up nervously. "Um, we will Boss. I was just saying that-"

"Well don't!" Gibbs growled harshly at him, and smacking the back of his head with added force, he stormed over to his own seat, dropping into it heavily. "Do you have anything on the case yet?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm still looking for the storage locker," McGee replied nervously.

Gibbs let out a mingled sigh of disgust and impatience, he glanced over at his two 'senior' Agents and snapped, "Well at least he's working, you two, go and find something to do!"

They both nodded quickly, and began rummaging around their desks and clicking at their computers. Shaking his head, Gibbs turned his attention to his own computer screen, only to find that he couldn't concentrate, and that all he could think about was Jenny. It wasn't just the kiss that had thrown him for a loop - although that was a big part of it - it was her reaction. She'd seemed so confused, and Jenny was never confused. She was always sure of herself, and even when she wasn't she didn't let it show. Something wasn't right, and he wasn't entirely convinced that it was just because of this lunatic that was following her.

His grip tightened on his pen, not noticing that he'd snapped it. When he eventually got his hands on the son of a bitch he was going to make him wish he'd never so much as set eyes on Jen. His thoughts were interrupted however by McGee's voice finally traversing through his thoughts. "Um, Boss?"

He looked up sharply. "What?"

"I found the locker."

Gibbs nodded, letting the two halves of his pen drop to his desk. "Grab your coats then," he told them as he got to his feet. As he shrugged on his own jacket however, he couldn't help but let his gaze stray over in the direction of Jenny's office, and in a moment of honesty he finally admitted to himself that last night's kiss had gotten through a lot of his barriers, and brought feelings rushing to the surface again - feelings that given the circumstances probably weren't a good thing.

* * *

Ducky glanced up from his medical textbook as Palmer approached him from behind. "Are you ready, Dr Mallard?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever will be," Ducky replied, sighing. "We've put this bloody business off long enough," he added as he got to his feet.

They both stared ahead. "They don't prepare for this in medical school," Palmer noted grimly.

Ducky sighed again. "Let's get it over with," he said as he moved towards the massive piles of paper sitting on one of the slabs. "Where shall we start?"

Snatching a sheet from the top of a pile, Palmer replied, "Latex gloves."

Scanning the aforementioned sheet, Ducky looked at in surprise. "Good Lord, do we really get through that many?" he asked.

Abby bounced up beside them, grinning. "Ah, requisition forms. I did mine last week," she announced proudly.

"Don't gloat," Ducky scolded her half-heartedly.

"Ok," she shrugged. "All business. I got the blood work you wanted on the John Doe. Um the white blood cell count was normal, but there was a high level of the enzyme creatine kinase."

Ducky simply stared at her for a second, letting out a loud exhale of breath. "Ah." He looked down at his watch. "I didn't realise how close to lunch it was." He took the sheet of paper from Abby's hands, heading towards the door he continued, "Let's put all that off until tomorrow Mr Palmer, when we're both fresh."

Palmer nodded, perplexed. "I guess one more day won't matter."

"Yes, well thank you Abigail. I'll see you later," he called over his shoulder to both of them.

Abby gave a small wave, and as the doors shut behind him, she turned to Palmer. "What's going on?"

Continuing to look bewildered, he replied, "I don't know."

"He asked me to run blood tests on a John Doe."

"Abby," Palmer shook his head in dismay. "We don't have any John Doe's."

* * *

"Come in," Jenny called out, hearing the knock at her door. Removing her reading glasses, she gave Ducky a small smile as he slipped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. The sombre expression on his face caused Jenny's smile to falter. "You've got the results," she stated.

He gave a small nod. "Yes, I have," he replied, hovering nervously at the front edge of her desk.

"It isn't good news then?" she asked sadly.

"Something did turn up in the results, yes."

"How bad is it?"

"Your results showed high levels of the enzyme creatine kinase, which leaks out of damaged muscle cells, unfortunately from blood tests alone it's impossible to know the cause."

Leaning back in her chair, Jenny asked, "What are the possibilities?"

"They are far too numerous for me to guess. Which is why I've arranged for you to see a friend of mine this afternoon. I called in a favour and he will carry out the tests today and hopefully be able to give you a diagnosis."

"I'll have Cynthia cancel my appointments." Jenny looked up at him and gave him a small yet genuine smile. "Thank you, Ducky."

"No need to thank me, my dear, I just want to see you well." His fingers tightened around the sheet of paper. "I'd be more than happy to accompany you."

Jenny shook her head. "It's nice of you to offer Ducky, but I'd rather go alone."

He nodded. "Well if you change your mind, you know where I am."

* * *

Abby twisted a solitary pigtail around her fingers nervously. She didn't like this, didn't like it one single bit. After returning to the lab she'd looked into the enzyme creatine kinase and it wasn't good. Some conditions that caused it were treatable, but-

She sighed, loudly. It was Ducky's reaction when she'd said it. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to hold back the floods of tears she was likely to break down in soon. Everything was going so horribly recently, and for someone out of her family here to get sick, that would just be unbearable.

The doors to her lab opened, and she looked up, relaxing slightly when she saw it was Gibbs. The older man's face creased in concern when he saw her face. "What's wrong Abs?"

She debated about not telling him, but she knew that if Ducky was going to open up to someone it would be Gibbs, and she knew that Gibbs would want to know, want to help if Ducky really was ill. Swallowing nervously, she told him quietly, "Ducky asked me to run some blood work on a John Doe. It wasn't good, and when I told him he rushed off. When I asked Palmer about it, Palmer told me that there are no John Doe's in Autopsy just now. I think - I think the tests were his Gibbs. I think Ducky's sick."

Gibbs stared at her in shock for a moment, and then pulled the young Goth into a hug. Kissing the top of her head, he told her, "Try not to worry too much Abs, I'll go talk to him."

"Thank you," Abby whispered.

* * *

Sitting across from Dr Alan, Jenny couldn't help but flex her fingers nervously. It had been an exhaustive afternoon of test after test, and now she just wanted to know. She glanced quickly in the direction of the door, knowing that Hector was standing patiently outside, knowing that he'd have a million questions, but would never be nosy enough to actually ask, and for that she was immensely grateful.

Finally Dr Alan looked up from his file, his face grim. "Director Sheppard, I've looked over the results from all your tests and I'm afraid it isn't good news." He waited for a brief second before continuing. "I'm sorry to have to inform you that I believe you're suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or as it is sometimes more commonly known, Lou Gehrig's disease."

Jenny took in a shaky breath at that. "It's fatal, isn't it?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes, I'm afraid that it is."

"What's going to happen, I mean what sort of process does the disease follow?"

"You will progressively lose control of your muscles, first in your limbs and then progressing into your respiratory system. Once that happens you'll require ventilation support and you'll also require full time care."

"How long do I have?" Jenny asked, feeling bizarrely calm.

"It's impossible to give a definitive answer, although having looked at the medical exam you undertook only a few months ago, there was no sign of the disease, and yet you are already showing marked symptoms. From that I would say that your disease is progressing at an overly fast rate. Without treatment, maybe a year."

"And with it?"

"With a successful drug regime you could have up to five."

Jenny wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. He'd said five years as though it were an good thing. Five years of needing to rely on strangers to look after her, five years of becoming slowly trapped inside her own body. She looked at him, and hating the note of desperation in her own voice, asked, "And you're sure?"

"I have ruled out all other possibilities," he informed her sadly. "Although with such a diagnosis I would encourage you to seek a second opinion, in cases such as these I don't mind being proved wrong."

"I'll consider it," Jenny heard herself say.

"Good. In the meantime, I'll start you on a course of medication, that should hopefully slow down your symptoms."

"Fine." Jenny watched as he wrote out a prescription. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Could you send the test results to Dr Mallard, I'd like to have his opinion on this."

Dr Alan looked up. He eyed the woman sitting in front of him carefully. "Of course, although I'm sure that he too will urge you to get a second opinion from a specialist."

Taking the outstretched prescription, Jenny got to her feet, nodding numbly. Muttering a polite goodbye, she stepped out into the corridor only to find Hector watching her in concern. Straightening, and pulling herself together, she told him calmly, "I think it's time to go home now."

* * *

Ducky stared at the images on his light box, scouring them for any other possibility other than the one Jenny had been given, and kept coming up blank. He glanced away from them as the doors slid open and Palmer stepped inside. He quickly tugged them down. "Mr Palmer, I thought you'd gone for the night."

The younger man didn't even look up from rummaging around the desk as he replied, "I made it halfway home before I realised I'd left my cell phone here." He turned to look at Ducky. "What are you working on Dr Mallard?" He stepped forward. "Is it anything I can help you with?"

"No, no," Ducky assured him hurriedly. "It's an old case, just popped into mind, thought I'd check a few things."

"Oh." Palmer reached out to take the file. "I'll put it back in the file room for you then."

Pulling it away from the younger man's outstretched hand, Ducky replied, "No, no, no, no, no, I'll take care of it."

Giving a small shrug, Palmer went back to searching for his phone, although as he looked up, he was perturbed to see Ducky lock it in his desk drawer.

Keeping quiet over what he saw, Palmer located his phone, and straightened up. Wondering if he should say something, he cleared his throat, gaining the older man's attention just as the doors opened and Gibbs strolled in. Glancing over at Palmer, he told him, "Hey Palmer, isn't about time you went home?"

Glancing from one man to the other, Palmer gave a muttered agreement, and pushing his phone into his pocket, headed towards the door. Waiting until he was gone, Ducky shuffled nervously on his feet, and asked, "Something wrong?"

Gibbs took in a hiss of breath through tightly drawn lips. "Well, you tell me." He walked up to him, invading his personal space, continuing, "I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."

"Ah, you're referring to the blood test I asked Abby to run on the non existent John Doe." He gave a wry chuckle, slipping out of Gibbs intense gaze by side stepping him. "I shouldn't be surprised I guess, she goes to you with everything."

Gibbs turned, keeping him in his line of sight, he replied, "She cares about you and she's worried."

"About me?" Ducky echoed.

"You're running the tests on yourself."

"No. I am not self diagnosing," he chuckled. "You know Abby allows her emotions to cloud her judgement, she's jumped to a conclusion. No, I'm in excellent health for a man of my age, and if she'd bothered to check further, she'd have realised it's not my blood type."

He turned in an attempt to walk away, but Gibbs refused to be dissuaded quite as easily as that. "Who?" he asked.

Ducky paused, turning to face him again. He let out a sad sigh. "You're putting me in a very difficult position, Jethro."

Gibbs walked towards him. "I can't think of anybody that you'd stick your neck out like that for." He looked at him thoughtfully. "Except Director Sheppard." Gibbs stared at him, looking for a sign that he was wrong, and not finding one. "Well," he pressed. "Jenny?"

Ducky stared at him almost sadly for a moment and then shook his head. "I cannot and will not discuss this Jethro."

Gibbs watched as Ducky turned away, his heart sinking.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry for the gap in updates. I've had internet issues that have only just been resolved. For those who are also reading HIT, which I know I left on a cliffhanger, it will be updated next, and by Thursday at the very latest, it'll go up this weekend if I can manage it.**

* * *

The wind howled, echoing eerily as it whipped around the ruins of the keep. Henri stared up at it, the place he had called home for his mortal life, the place where he'd once been so happy. His eyes slid to the nearby graveyard, where Eloise had been laid to rest so long ago, the graveyard that he had always protected, unwilling to let her resting place be disturbed. A small unhappy smile played about his lips, the ruins of the keep and cemetery were considered haunted. The story of the noble man who'd sold his soul in an effort to save his wife's life was still told by the villagers, along with an added ending. They said that he'd become a demon, that anyone who approached the keep was attacked. There had even been a spate of attacks around the ruins, which some had blamed on him, or rather the 'demon.'

He had ignored the rumours, dismissing the attacks as those committed by a human. Had he thought about it however, really thought about the type of attacks and the pattern they'd followed then maybe he wouldn't be standing here tonight. Maybe this would have all been over by now. Henri shook his head, the maybes were of little importance now. He could no longer change what had happened in the past, he could however change the future.

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, and he listened to the footsteps behind him draw closer - footsteps that a mortal would be unable to hear. Cocking his head to one side, he spoke lowly, "It's been a long time, Arnaud."

He almost didn't recognise the voice that answered, it was so cold and lifeless. "Two weeks shy of eight hundred years."

"And you still roam this place."

"It was my home."

"But you don't care about it enough to leave the locals in peace." Henri finally turned to face his old friend, shocked at the transformation in him. Henri knew himself that he hadn't really changed, but Arnaud, Arnaud looked like a completely different person. His face was hard, a mask of pure hatred and his eyes were devoid of any glimmer of feeling.

Arnaud gave a cold smirk. "They should know better than to come up here by now," he replied.

Henri shook his head sadly. "You cannot be happy like this."

The smirk turned into a near snarl, his teeth gleaming stark white in the darkness of the night. "What do you care? You gave me no choice but to resort to this, you abandoned me to die!"

"I thought you were dead, but," Henri acknowledged ashamedly. "We were like brothers and I should never have left you there."

"No," Arnaud replied shortly. "You shouldn't have."

"However," Henri continued. "It was your choice to sell your soul, no-one forced you into it."

"I had no choice! I did not want to die!"

"You'd rather be this." Henri waved his hand at him. "What sort of life do you have?"

"The kind where I get everything I want."

Henri gave a snort of disgust, "Fine. I really didn't come here to argue with you."

"Then why are you here?"

"I want to offer a truce." He shook his head sadly. "This has gone on long enough."

Arnaud gave him an eerie grin. "Last I heard you wanted to rip me limb from limb."

"That was years ago and I was angry, you tricked me."

"You deserved it."

"But Eloise didn't," Henri replied sharply. His face fell and he let out a low sigh. "We were once friends, surely after so long we can put everything to one side and move forward?"

Letting out a snort of humourless laughter, Arnaud replied, "Funny how this offer of a truce has coincided with you finding Eloise again."

"I want to put this behind us."

"But I don't!" he snapped back. "You still have what you want, her!"

"You just said this life gave you everything you wanted."

"It's not enough," he answered simply. "I want you to suffer."

"Then punish me, not her."

"No, nothing will hurt you as much as losing her. Did you know that if she dies as an immortal she won't be re-born?"

Henri felt his fists clench by his sides. He forced himself to reply evenly, "I did know that, yes."

Arnaud's face twisted in a malicious grin. "So I'm not backing down, and you don't want to lose Jennifer. What are you going to do?"

"Don't do this," he whispered hoarsely. "I don't want to have to kill you."

"I have no such qualms about killing you," Arnaud told him.

"Then at least I'll have Jenny in the after-life -"

He let out a snort of laughter, interrupting him. "You think I'll let her die and join you? Oh no, you'll go without her either way. So." He eyed his adversary carefully. "What are you going to do?"

Henri replied heavily, "If I have to kill you to save her then there's really no contest."

Arnaud's lip curled into a heavy snarl. "I knew it," he whispered harshly. "You haven't changed."

"You aren't giving me a choice. I've offered a truce, it's up to you whether or not you take it."

"I'll never make peace with you. If I can I'll kill her in front of you." He paced menacingly around Henri as he spoke. "So I'm going to ask you again, what are you going to do?"

"End this," he replied honestly. "I meant it when I said this had gone on for too long." Henri watched as Arnaud's eyes gleamed with malicious joy at the thought of a fight, and yet he stood still, waiting to see if his old friend would make the first move.

He did.

Arnaud threw himself forward, the weight of him knocking Henri to the ground and cracking his ribs. Henri slammed his fist into his shoulder in retaliation, feeling the bone splinter against his clenched fist and sending him flying in the opposite direction. Henri got unsteadily to his feet, drawing in a deep breath as his ribs healed. He waited until Arnaud got to his feet, his face glowing in hatred. Henri stared at him plaintively, saying once more, "Let's stop this madness, you won't win this, you never did win a fight against me."

"Those were nothing but toy fights between stupid boys," he sneered in reply. "Now either fight me or let me kill you."

Sighing heavily, Henri replied, "Pistols or hand to hand combat?"

"Pistols are the cowards way out. You'll fight me like a man."

"Fine," he sighed heavily. But again he waited for Arnaud to make the first move. As he charged at him, Henri braced himself, and grabbed his arm. He pulled it with all his strength and whirled Arnaud around as he did so. He felt it loosen and tear away, and he was left holding the arm as his former friend stumbled to the ground. Henri let the arm drop and looked up to see Arnaud panting heavily, supporting himself on the one arm still attached. As the errant arm attempted to crawl back to him, Henri pushed his foot down onto the knuckles, trapping it. His eyes trained on Arnaud's pain twisted face, and he pulled the glittering silver pistol out of his jacket. He levelled it at Arnaud's heart. "I have no aspiration to rip you from limb to limb, and I'm going to give you one last chance, accept my truce."

"I'd rather burn in Hell for all eternity than forgive you and watch you enjoy your happily ever after."

"After all the sins you've committed Hell's exactly where you're going." Henri met Arnaud's eyes and finally saw the man he'd considered a brother was no longer in there. He had to do this to save Jenny, and finally the guilt over the mistakes of his past began to ease. He was not responsible for his former friends decisions, the monster he'd become had been the result of his own decisions. His finger squeezed the trigger, the silver bullet flying free of the weapon with a crack.

The moment the bullet pierced the flesh of Arnaud's heart he disintegrated. His flesh turning instantly into dust and blowing into the wind. Henri stared first at the empty space left behind and then down at the arm under his foot. It was no longer flexing and struggling against the weight that had pinned it to the ground, now it merely lay limp and lifeless. His face contorting slightly in grief for the man that Arnaud had once been, he picked up the limb - surprised at the weight of it.

Holding it by his side, Henri made his way towards the cemetery. He walked through it, briefly noting the graves of those he'd known in the past, those he'd watched grow old and pass on. Eventually he reached the plaque he'd had placed in Arnaud's memory after he'd returned from the crusades. After being tricked by him he'd considered ripping it apart with his bare hands but something had stopped him, now he knew why. He dug into the dirt with his bare hands until he had a sizable hole, placing the arm into the ground he scooped the dirt over it, packing it in tightly. Once he was done, he stared at the stone. It was crumbled and the writing carved into it was faded and covered with moss so that it was barely legible; nothing like Eloise's. Over the years he'd attended it and maintained it as well as the passing years would allow him to.

Normally he would go to Eloise's grave now and lie beside it, talking to her as if she were still here, drawing some comfort from the fact that she's come back to him eventually. But now he had her back and he had no need of the little comfort the cold stone had offered him. Getting easily to his feet, he walked away, resisting the urge to look back. Instead he stared ahead, down the hill at the few remaining twinkling light's of the village only a few miles away. They would never know what had happened here tonight, or that the quiet threat that had once surrounded them was gone for good.

* * *

Abby frowned, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Swallowing heavily she swivelled around on her chair and stared around the empty lab, on seeing nothing was there she shook her head. She was being ridiculous, she was letting all the drama of the last few days get to her. This was her lab, she was safe and more importantly she was alone.

Henri watched as the black haired girl's eyes darted nervously around the room, resting safe in knowledge that even if she was one of the few mortals who could sense his presence, she would never be able to see him.

Waiting until she'd turned back to her work. Henri reached his hand through the locked drawer of her desk and felt around for the necklace, tucking it under the sleeve of his jacket and drawing it out slowly. It was time for a new start, and hopefully this necklace would come to symbolize the joining of his past and a happy future with Jenny.

With one last glance in the young girl's direction, Henri faded into the darkness of the lab and disappeared once more.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to those who have reviewed so far :)**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Gibbs sat in his car, staring at the elegant façade of Jenny's townhouse. He'd sat here for almost an hour now, silently willing himself to either go in and talk to her or drive off. For one thing he was pretty sure he was putting her detail on edge by sitting here. But he just couldn't seem to move, couldn't bring himself to drive away and if he was honest he was too afraid to go in there and interrogate her. Because he wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answers to his questions.

He sighed deeply, rubbing his hand across his jaw. He was getting ahead of himself, Ducky didn't say that the test results were Jenny's, but his face…. Gibbs groaned, his face had been so bleak that it had filled him with dread.

His hands tightened into fists, he needed to get to the bottom of this, needed to speak to her, if only to put his own mind at rest. Just as his hand had reached the door handle however, his phone went. Cursing profusely, he answered it, barking, "Gibbs."

"It's Abby." Gibbs something really hinky has just happened and I don't know what to do, I'm so freaked by this, it's impossible, I just don't understand it. It couldn't have happened that's why it should be impossible but it's not-"

"Abby!" Gibbs interjected sharply, cutting into the nonsensical ramblings. "What's happened?"

The young Goth let out a deep, agitated sigh before answering, "The necklace is gone, but it was there half an hour ago when I last checked and I haven't left the lab since then."

Gibbs frowned. "You're telling me that whoever took it this time, took it while you were in the room."

"Yes! Gibbs I'm really scared by this, I mean what if he's still here? And how is he even doing this?"

"I don't know Abs, look just stay where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can, Ok?"

He could almost see her nodding, as she replied, "Thank you, Gibbs."

"Not a problem, Abs."

Finally Gibbs felt able to step out of the car, although that might have something to do with the fact he knew he wouldn't be seeing Jenny. He strode determinedly towards Hector - who had once again stayed over his shift - nodding with his head to indicate that he wanted to talk privately. Stepping away from the rest of the detail, Hector asked quietly, "What is it?"

"Looks like we might have had another breach back at NCIS."

Hector's eyes widened slightly. "Where about?" he asked.

"The lab."

Nodding grimly, Hector replied, "I'll make sure we up our checks here."

Gibbs didn't reply, there wasn't a need to and he wasn't one to needlessly waste words. Turning away from the other Agent, he moved swiftly back towards his car. As he slid back into the driver's seat, he couldn't help but look towards the light emanating from Jenny's study, and ignoring the sensation of dread that was cramping through his stomach he finally drove away.

* * *

Jenny curled up onto her sofa, the throw pulled over her, having long given up any pretence that she was working. She swirled the remnants of her bourbon around in it's glass as she stared vacantly into the flickering flames of her fire. It had been over twenty four hours since her diagnosis and she felt almost numb at the moment, although she had veered between feeling eerily calm and being on the verge of hysteria. Numb she had decided was the best option, if she couldn't feel then it couldn't hurt.

She'd avoided Ducky today, burying herself in meetings, unable to face his sympathy, no matter how genuine it would have been. She couldn't cope with sympathy, she didn't want to be pitied and yet that was what this disease would do to her. It would rob her of the one thing she had, that she depended on, her independence.

She heard heavy footsteps behind her and after taking another sip of the burning alcohol, she said calmly, "I did wonder how long it would take you to come back."

"I had some loose ends to tie up," Henri replied, stepping into the dim light and coming to sit beside her. "Did you seek medical advice?"

Jenny gave a jerky nod. "I think I'm going to need another drink if we're going to talk about this."

Henri took the glass from her shaky hand. "I'll get it," he told her.

"If you want something help yourself," she replied, waving her hand in the direction of her drinks cabinet. She watched him almost warily for a moment before asking, "What exactly constitutes a loose end to you?"

"Arnaud," he answered honestly.

"What happened?"

Henri turned to look at her, and Jenny could see poorly concealed grief and remorse in his gaze. "I did what I had to do to protect people from him-"

"By people do you mean me?" Jenny asked, interrupting him.

"You were the reason I tracked him down, and yes he still wanted to see me suffer and by association you, but he was also growing more dangerous all the time and he wasn't selective about who he attacked. I couldn't just stand by and watch. I offered a truce, a new start, but-" Henri shook his head sadly. "He refused."

Jenny bit down on her bottom lip. She'd taken lives before in the course of her job and she knew the guilt afterwards felt like it could cripple you if you let it, and she'd never taken the life of someone she'd once cared about. So she knew it must be agony for him.

Getting to her feet, she moved towards him, her hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she whispered.

He gave a brief nod. "At least," he sighed. "It's over now. It had went on for so long and I couldn't hold a grudge anymore." He looked up into her clear crystal green eyes. "Not now, there are more important things than that now." He reached for the hand that was resting on his shoulder, holding it lightly. "How did you get on yesterday?"

Jenny gave a small shrug. "It was just as you told me, I'm dying." She blinked slightly as she realised that was the first time she'd said it out loud, and she could feel her bottom lip tremble slightly as the reality of her situation began to truly sink in.

Henri let out a sad sigh. "I'd really hoped I was wrong about this."

"You weren't the only one," Jenny replied wryly. She let her hand fall from his, and reached for one of the glasses behind him. She took a sip and asked, "So is that the only reason you came?"

He watched her, replying carefully. "Partly. That and I wanted to reiterate what I said earlier, I can save you if you want me to."

Jenny turned to look at him, trying to quash the small bloom of hope that was unfurling inside of her. "By making me like you?"

Henri nodded. "Yes. However I'm not going to rush you into making a decision, I just wanted you to know that, and see if you had any questions."

"I do have a few," Jenny admitted.

He inclined his head back towards the sofa. "Maybe we should sit while we talk."

Silently, Jenny made her way to the sofa and sat down, her fingers tapping agitatedly against the glass tumbler, waiting until he sat beside her, she finally asked, "Will it hurt?"

"It can, but I know how to ease the pain," he told her confidently. "You'll feel dizzy and you'll pass out, but a few hours after you come too you'll feel better."

"And I won't be tied to you?"

"No, once you've turned you'll be free to go wherever you want to. You won't have to stay with me. Although," he told her. "It would probably be better if I taught you how to hunt first, on your own it is difficult to come to terms with all the changes." He stared at her intently for a moment, before saying, "It's not just as simple as me just turning you and you adapting to your new gifts. There are things you need to understand. You won't age, so you can't stay in one life for longer than ten years before you have to move on. So you'll have to leave behind the people you care about, over and over again. Either that or avoid becoming to close to others. Even if you decide to watch over them you'll have to see them grow old and die. Knowing that you'll never change from what you are at that very moment in time. What I'm offering you is very much a mixed blessing, so I want you to take your time with your decision."

Jenny sat in silent contemplation for a few moments. The thought of watching her friends age and die wasn't a pleasant one, while thinking about losing Jethro, about walking away again….it was almost like a physical blow, it made her feel winded.

But then again she didn't actually have any of them, she'd systematically ruined every relationship, friendship and even any camaraderie she'd ever had with anyone. Pushing them away for the sake of her career, until that was all she had left. And either way she was going to have to say goodbye, and she didn't want their pity as she wasted away, so she'd be disappearing anyway. That and….she just didn't want to die, especially not like this. This could be a new start, she could make amends here and then move on and build a new life free from the confines she'd put in place for herself.

Finally she looked up, meeting Henri's unwavering gaze. "I've already made up my mind," she told him confidently. "I want you to change me."

He shook his head. "No. I need you to think it through. To take time-"

"Time is not a luxury for me anymore," Jenny stated calmly. "And I'm sure of what I want. I'm not going to regret this, or change my mind."

Henri stared at her for a few seconds, his eyes searching her face for any sign that she might not fully understand the enormity of her decision. When he took in the set to her jaw and the determination set in her eyes, he saw the determination that knew that Eloise had always shown and knew that her mind was made up. "Well then, I suppose there's no time like the present."

* * *

"Gibbs!" Abby flew into him the moment that he walked into the room, almost knocking him off of his feet. "Oh thank God you're here. I've been so freaked out."

Gibbs hugged her tightly for a moment. "Everything's going to be Ok now, Abs." He moved his hands to her forearms, holding her at a distance slightly as he said, "So tell me what happened?"

"That's just it!" Abby babbled. "I don't know!" She shook her head as she dropped onto the stool that Gibbs had backed her up to. "I was calibrating the mass spec and catching up on some work that I missed because of that symposium today. So before I started I decided to check that the necklace was still there and it was, so I got stated. Then about half an hour later I felt like someone was there, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and it was so horrible that I turned and looked around. The place was completely empty, but I just couldn't shake off the feeling that someone had been in my lab. So I checked the place and when I opened the _locked_ drawer I found the necklace was gone." She stared up at him with wide green eyes. "I don't understand it, Gibbs. How could he steal it from right underneath my nose. I mean what is this guy!"

Gibbs rubbed his hand over her shoulder reassuringly, dropping a calming kiss to the top of her head. "And you didn't leave the lab at all?"

"No. I was here the entire time." She let out a choking sound. "Oh Gibbs!"

"It's going to be Ok, we'll get him, I promise," he told her determinedly.

Abby shook her head miserably. "It's not just that. I feel like I've been violated, he was here and I didn't….couldn't see him. He could have been there for ages, he could have done anything he wanted." She looked up at him, eyes wide. "I can't imagine how scared the Director must be, I mean he was in her house, while she slept, he's been in her office..." she trailed off.

He hugged her again. "We'll keep her safe, Abs."

"Good," Abby sniffed. "Because I don't know what we'd do if anything happened to Mommy."

Gibbs felt like his gut was on fire. Something was wrong, this guy was up to something and he could tell it was big. Smoothing Abby's hair, he told her, "I'm going to drive you home, ok?"

She smiled up at him. "Thanks, Gibbs, for everything."

He gave a curt nod, all the time knowing that he had to get to Jenny, and quickly.

* * *

Jenny took in a shaky breath as she felt Henri push her hair off one shoulder, pushing it so that the curve of her neck was bare. She shivered slightly as she felt his fingers trace her carotid artery, finding her thumping pulse. He paused when he felt her movement. "We don't have to do this now," he whispered.

"I'm not changing my mind," Jenny replied, her voice unwavering, not once betraying the turmoil racing through her.

"We could still do this another time."

"I'll still be nervous," she told him, managing a small laugh. Turning to meet his gaze, she asked, "So what happens?"

His fingers continue to move up and down the pulse in her neck. "I'm afraid it's a bit cliché," he replied. "I bit you, and drain your blood."

Jenny's nose crinkled in distaste. "Is that it?"

"No," he shook his head. "In order for the change to take place you have to take in some of my blood. My blood will regenerate your body and bring you back."

"Wait a minute so I die?"

"Technically, yes."

"And this isn't meant to hurt?" She asked disbelievingly.

"It depends on the amount of blood you ingest, the more you take in the less the process will hurt, as your body has more to work on." He frowned as he noticed that she was staring quite intently at his mouth. "What is it?"

"Do you have fangs?"

He gave a small bark of laughter, shaking his head, he replied, "No, my teeth sharpen slightly when I go to feed, but no fangs." He bared them at her so she could see the razor sharp but otherwise perfectly normal teeth.

"Ok then." Jenny nodded, rubbing the palms of her hands on her thighs. "Well let's get this over with then."

Henri gave her an odd look and only just managed to suppress a smile at her impatience. "If you're sure."

"I am."

Nodding, he lowered his head to his own wrist and used his teeth to slash it open, causing Jenny to wince. He pushed the wrist towards her and she recoiled slightly. "You need to take this," he prompted. "Preferably before it heals and I have to do it again."

Leaning slowly forward, Jenny opened her mouth and grimaced as he pushed his wrist into her mouth and the metallic tasting liquid hit her tongue. She was so distracted that she didn't see him lean into her and so let out a muffled squeal of surprise as he bit into her neck, causing the arm that she hadn't noticed was around her waist to tighten - holding her in place. The pain was unbelievable and she choked slightly as the blood in her mouth trickled down her throat. Amazingly the pain seemed to ease off, and she relaxed very slightly as she felt a haze descend over her. She felt unbelievably dizzy and disconnected, everything felt surreal and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Finally her head lolled backwards and her eyes closed, leaving her completely unaware.

Henri felt Jenny's body grow limp as the last few drops of her blood left her body. Pulling away, he ran his tongue over the large bit mark on her pale neck, his saliva healing it instantly. Holding her gently, he lowered her onto the sofa, lifting her legs up so that she was lying across it. He ran his hand over her pale cold skin, still feeling uneasy about this. After all this was the first time he'd done this and he wasn't entirely sure how long it would take her to awaken. His thumb ran along her cheekbone, as he sat quietly, waiting, since that was all he could do now.

* * *

This time, Gibbs didn't hesitate when he drew up in front of Jenny's house, he was out the car in seconds and striding determinedly through the door, giving no more than a cursory nod in the direction of Jenny's detail before walking inside.

The hallway was silent, the only light emanating from the study. He didn't call out, but his gut tighten even further as he crept slowly towards the door, and he drew his weapon. As he approached the entranceway and saw no one there, he re-holstered it. His eyes ran over the room, taking in the fact that Jenny was sleeping on the sofa in front of the fire. The flames casting an orange glow over the room.

Still feeling uneasy, he moved towards her. The need to throw up suddenly assailed him as he took in her stillness and the pallor of her skin. He knelt beside her, his fingers moving to the freezing skin of her neck, as he whispered almost desperately, "Jen?"

He pushed his fingers urgently into the soft flesh, searching for a pulse and letting out a massive sigh of relief when he felt one. It was faint, but very definitely there, so he tried once again to rouse her - hoping that she was just cold - shaking her shoulders. "Jen, Jenny, come on wake up for me now."

Much to his relief, her eyes blinked slowly open, and she stared at him in confusion. "Jethro," she mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. You're freezing, Jen."

She shook her head and attempted to try and sit up, slumping as a wave of dizziness slept over her, and she felt Jethro's arms tighten around her, holding her steady. "I'm fine," she told him.

"I'm going to call Ducky," he muttered determinedly, apparently ignoring her reply.

"No." She shook her head. "I just need to sleep." Trying to get to her feet, she felt herself stumble, and once again his arms steadied her.

He cursed under his breath. "Fine, but I'm taking you up and I'll be checking on you, if you don't start to improve _quickly _then I'm calling him."

"Fine," Jenny replied, too exhausted to argue. She glanced up at him and noted how strained he looked. She knew his case would be exhausting and she immediately felt guilty for distracting him. "You need to sleep too, Jethro."

"Not as much as you do," came the gruff reply.

Jenny let out a small irate sigh, but again didn't bother to protest. She looked up at him again when she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking over she saw Henri standing there, watching intently.

Gibbs followed her gaze, asking concernedly, "What is it?"

Realizing that he was unable to see him, Jenny gave a mumbled, "Nothing, shadows from the fire." And let him guide her slowly from the room, missing the growing frown on Henri's face.


	10. Chapter 10

Blinking her eyes open, Jenny winced as the rays of light eking through the window hit her eyes. Letting out a low groan and shutting her eyes in an attempt to block out the light, she pulled at her covers and tried to pull them up over her head, only to find that they wouldn't budge. Confused she opened her eyes as she twisted onto her side, and stared in confusion as she took in the sight of Leroy Jethro Gibbs sleeping next to her, only he was lying on top of the covers, explaining why she hadn't succeeded in her earlier task.

Letting out a small huff of disbelief, Jenny tried to remember exactly how this had happened. And then everything flooded back to her. Her illness, Henri, his offer, her acceptance of it and finally Jethro appearing, his concerned face peering down at her as he'd roughly shaken her awake, his voice harsh.

Had it worked? Was she now healed? She didn't feel as weary and achy as she had on waking in recent weeks, but that wasn't necessarily indicative of her being cured, of being immortal. Holding up her hand she looked for tell tale tremor that had plagued her recently - something that until two days ago she'd put down to being tired and overworked - it wasn't there.

At that she let her lips curve into a smile, a small wave of hopefulness washing over her. She looked back over to where Jethro lay sleeping and took in the frown that creased his face even as he slept. Reaching out, she brushed her hand slowly over his shoulder, calling his name softly, "Jethro, Jethro wake up."

His eyes shot open, his hand grabbing her wrist. He stared at her for the briefest second and sat up abruptly, his wide eyes running over her. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his hand pressing against her forehead, relief rushing over him as he realised she no longer felt like an icicle.

"I'm fine," Jenny replied, offering him a small smile. "You didn't need to stay."

Gibbs stared at her, unsure how to answer that. Last night he'd been convinced she was really unwell, she'd been deathly pale and freezing to the touch. When he'd got her on her feet she'd been unsteady and he was certain that she wouldn't have been able to so much as stand without his support. Then when he'd finally got her into her bed, the covers pulled tightly around her, she'd fallen asleep almost immediately. He'd wanted to call Ducky, but every time he'd so much as muttered the suggestion her eyes would blink open and she'd protested. So he'd uneasily stuck to her wishes, but had consistently checked her temperature, as well as waking her regularly to make sure she was still coherent until he'd been convinced that her condition had been improving. He wasn't even sure exactly when he'd finally succumbed to his own exhaustion and fallen asleep, but he knew that it couldn't have been long, as he distinctly remembered the early morning sun beginning to filter into the room.

His eyes ran over her once more, taking in the healthy glow to her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes that had been missing over the last few months and continued to feel himself relax. Although as he continued to stare he felt his gut twist, something was still going on, he could feel it. The hand that had previously been on her forehead slipped down, the thumb caressing her cheekbone for a brief second as he studied her intently. The as he felt and heard her take in an almost stuttered inhale of breath, he realised what he was doing and abruptly pulled his hand away. "I should get back to work," he told her as he quickly got off the bed.

Jenny blinked confusedly for the briefest of moments before muttering, "Yes, you still have that case."

"Mmmmm," he mumbled. And then as though another thought had just struck him, he turned to look at her again. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"

"Positive," she replied.

"Maybe you should get Ducky to check you over, just in case," he suggested.

Knowing that he wasn't going to let the issue drop, and knowing she had to talk to Ducky anyway, Jenny nodded. "I'll do that," she told him.

"Good." He nodded decisively, adding, "I'll see myself out, before disappearing out her bedroom door.

As he moved swiftly down the stairs, Gibbs cursed himself, what the hell had he been thinking? He had been less than a second away from kissing her. Which was a bad idea for a number of reasons, the main one being that he didn't have a clue what was going on with her right now and the other biggish concern being that she had some lunatic stalking her, and even if she denied it, that had to be affecting her in someway. So the last thing she needed right now was him pawing at her, even if it was becoming more of a desperation for him.

He paused as he reached his car door, a thought suddenly hitting him. He hadn't told her that the necklace was missing again. Letting out an annoyed growl, he wondered if he should turn back and let her know. He quickly decided against it however, because God only knew what he would do if he headed back into her bedroom. No, it was safer to tell her later, at work.

* * *

Leaning against a tree, Henri watched as the silver haired man -Jethro, she'd called him- drove away, finally. He'd stayed all night, looking after Jenny while her body re-charged, taking over the role that he himself had planned to do.

Henri's face creased into a frown. He'd seen this Jethro before, but he'd seemed as though he was nothing more than an irritating Agent she had to deal with. Now he wasn't so sure. Last night his concern had been more than that of an employee for their boss, and the way he'd cared for her had hurt him to stand and watch, until he hadn't been able to take it anymore, and safe in the knowledge that Jenny was safe, he'd left.

Now however he was back, he still wasn't sure of this guy's place in Jenny's life but there was time to find that out. And in the meantime she still needed his help to adjust to her new life.

* * *

Jenny heard the front door slam shut and let her head fall back against her pillows as she frowned up at the ceiling. Jethro confused her, that was a definite, sometimes he still appeared to care for her - demonstrated by his actions last night - while other times he blatantly ignored or disregarded her. She let out a low groan, she hated this, hated the way things were between them now and she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to fix it.

Although, if the change had worked then maybe it was better not to try and fix it, after all she would have to walk away again at some point and never see him again, maybe it was better if he did hate her. At that thought she felt as thought someone had twisted a knife in her stomach, the thought of leaving him again truly, physically hurt her. But if she'd remained human she would have had to do the same, because there was no way she was going to let him watch her weaken and waste away. She had absolutely no desire for him to remember her like that. No it was better this way. It had to be.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sudden appearance of Henri, he appeared out of thin air and offered her a small smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better than I felt in a long time." She looked at him hopefully. "Did it work then?"

"Well you can see me right now, so yes."

Jenny felt a small rush of relief, she wasn't dying anymore, she wasn't going to waste away, becoming a shell of herself. She looked up and met his gaze. "So what happens next?"

"I thought we could go hunting tonight, I could show you how best to use your new skills."

"That's probably a good idea," Jenny agreed. "I take it I'm ok to go into work today? I'm not dangerous to anyone?"

Henri gave a small smile, a small sound of amusement escaping from him as he shook his head. "No, as long as you hunt regularly you're safe."

"Good," Jenny replied. "Well I better go get ready for work."

Henri nodded again. "I'll see you tonight then."

* * *

Slipping through the doors to Autopsy, Jenny noticed that Ducky was so involved in what he was doing, he hadn't heard her enter. She coughed lightly, causing his head to jerk up. He offered her a sad smile as he got to his feet. "Jennifer my dear, how are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, Ducky." When she took in the almost doubtful look on his face, she added, "Honestly, I really am fine. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Anything I can do, I'll happily do it," he told her.

"I want to arrange to get a second opinion on my diagnosis."

Ducky nodded. "A wise choice my dear. However," he eyed her carefully. "I have seen your results and I don't want you pining all of your hopes on this second opinion."

"I'm not," she replied honestly. "But if there's the slightest chance that the diagnosis might have been wrong then I need to follow it up."

"Of course." Ducky let out a sigh. "I will look into some specialists for you, and arrange for an appointment."

Jenny smiled, and squeezed his hand gratefully. "Thank you, Ducky."


	11. Chapter 11

**I've decided to change my update schedule slightly. This story will now get two updates for everyone of Holding it Together, as this has been going on longer and is to be a shorter story. And I'm tired of juggling both lol.**

**Thank you to those who have reviewed :)**

* * *

As she dropped the pen she was holding and stretched out her fingers, Jenny couldn't help but smile when she realised that there were no aches present. She wiggled the digits almost experimentally, her smile widening as nothing adverse happened.

Glancing down at the now finished pile of paperwork, she relaxed back into her seat, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to get through paperwork so quickly and without some sort of headache or muscle cramp. It was nice.

She was unfortunately pulled out of her reverie by her office door crashing open and Jethro strolling in - not that anyone else would ever dare to treat her door in such a manner.

She arched an elegant eyebrow at him. "Why do you seem to have taken such a great disliking to my door, what did it ever do to you?" she asked in wry amusement.

Gibbs paused at her statement, he hadn't been expecting it, in fact he couldn't remember the last time she'd even attempted a humorous comment, she certainly hadn't since this whole debacle had started. His forehead creased into a frown as he took in her overly relaxed demeanour, this wasn't right - or at least it wasn't normal, not recently anyway.

He'd obviously stared silently at her for longer than he realised, because her voice but through his mind again. "Jethro, as much as I enjoy you standing staring at me blankly I don't have all day, now what is it?"

Finally the mist that had taken over his mind cleared, and ungluing his tongue from the roof of his mouth, he asked, "Have you been to see Ducky?"

She gave a small nod as she replied, "Yes, and I'm fine. I must have gotten a chill." She eyed him curiously. "Is that all?"

He shook his head. "The necklace is missing again."

Her eyes widened, that wasn't what she had been expecting. "Do we know when it disappeared?"

"Last night."

"And it's taken us this long to realise!" Jenny stared at him, outraged at what could only be described as a monumental failure in security. Yes she knew Henri could get it out of here without being caught, but for no-one to notice it was missing for that length of time was ridiculous.

"No," came the calm reply. "Abby checked last night and found it gone. It went missing while she was in the lab, and within a half hour time space."

"Oh." Jenny felt her annoyance disappear as quickly as it had arrived. "Is Abby ok?" she asked.

"It's un-nerved her. She doesn't understand how someone could get into that locked drawer with her right there."

Feeling more than a little awkward, Jenny gave a slight nod, her reply sounding stilted even to her own ears. "It is odd."

She met his eyes for a brief second and immediately wished she hadn't, they were staring at her in blatant curiosity. She knew that he suspected something was going on behind his back, but he hadn't pieced it together yet. His head tilted to one side, and she knew he was keeping his tone deliberately light as he said, "This guy's gotten past us a few times now, despite all our security measures."

"I had noticed," she replied. "Although I think you want to know something, so you may as well just spit it out before it chokes you, Jethro."

"Fine. Has he left you any notes or gifts that you haven't told us about?"

Her mind immediately flew to the lily he'd left for her only days before, and she pushed it from her mind, telling him, "No."

Gibbs felt a muscle in his jaw twitch when he saw the flicker of her eye. She was lying, but why? When this had first happened she'd been as alarmed as everyone else, what had changed? he wanted to push the issue, but he knew that one false move and she'd clam up for good. So instead he changed tact. "Chances are he'll make another move soon, which would explain why he wants the necklace back. I've spoken to Hector and your security team has been put on high alert. It might be wise for you to have someone with you in the house-"

She cut through his sentence. "That won't be necessary."

"Surely that's a decision for your head of security to make."

"Not when it involves my privacy it isn't," she snapped back.

His tone changed, taking on a softer edge, he almost sounded concerned for her she thought, as he told her, "This guy could be dangerous, Jen. Until we've caught him your privacy should probably take a back seat."

She gave a small laugh and looked at him in amusement. "I don't think you'd be saying that if our positions were reversed. Do you?"

"That's different," he insisted.

"Of course it is," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Look as much as I appreciate your concern my decision is final, apart from the pre-arranged sweeps of the house, there shall be no security inside."

"You're making a mistake," he told her harshly.

Her head snapped up, and her eyes met his once more as she informed him coldly, "No. No I'm not."

He stared at her for another moment. This wasn't right, he couldn't help but feel as though somehow this creep was gaining more access to Jenny than any of them realised. But if that were the case then she wasn't stopping him, and that made no sense at all. For once Gibbs could feel himself hesitate, unsure of his next move. She claimed her health was fine and yet as much as he wanted too he didn't believe her, although neither did he want to hear it out loud and confirm his fears, now after this conversation he couldn't help wonder if maybe somehow it was all tied together. He just had to find the right thread to pull, the right move to make so the mess they were in would unravel. However he had no idea what that move was, so he answered her gruffly, "It's your decision, Madam Director." Before storming out of her office.

Jenny watched him go, her lips drawn tight. She knew that this wasn't the end of it, that Jethro wasn't going to stop pushing until he got answers, but in this case, answers were the one thing she couldn't give him, because it would make her sound insane.

No, she shook her head, better he think that she was just being stubborn and awkward rather than anything else.

As for the necklace, it obviously meant the world to Henri so why shouldn't he take it back. However she would have to speak to him about being more careful, too many things were already not adding up regarding her 'stalker' and although she could just about deal with Jethro's awkward questions, she didn't want anyone else asking them.

* * *

As Gibbs stormed along the catwalk, he'd already decided where he was headed to next. To talk to Ducky. And this time he wasn't leaving without a clear answer about Jenny's health, if something was wrong then he wanted to be there for her, wanted to help. He sure as Hell didn't want this psycho edging his way in during a moment of weakness.

Just the thought of the guy made him slam his fist into the call button for the elevator. His teeth clenched tightly together and the sudden ringing of his cell phone didn't improve his mood. "What?" he snapped down the line. He listened carefully for a moment and let out a muttered curse that would have made a sailor blush. They had another body, same MO as before which meant the guy they had in custody was most likely innocent. He dragged an agitated hand across his jaw, talking to Ducky would have to wait, he'd finish this case and then when he could give it his full attention, get to the bottom of what was going on with Jenny.

* * *

"We really need to start agreeing on meeting times," Jenny told Henri as she felt an almost undetectable sweep of air set the hairs on the back of her neck rise up when he appeared in the room. "Otherwise I'm left sitting, waiting on you." She turned to face him. "Drink?"

"I'll pass," he smiled at her. "And I promise to give you a time for our next meeting."

"Good."

His smile deepened at the decisive tone of her voice. He waved his hand slightly as he asked, "Should we get to the task in hand then."

"In a moment, I want to talk to you first."

"Sounds ominous."

"I know you took the necklace out of the lab last night." Jenny watched as his form stiffened and she quickly added on, "I understand how important it is to you and I don't blame you for taking it back, it's just that I feel you should have been more careful-"

"Careful?" he asked, interrupting her.

"Yes, the girl who worked in the lab, Abby, well you scared her by taking it while she was there."

"Forgive me, I wasn't aware she'd realised she was there when I took it."

"I realise that, but it's not just that. You need to be more careful, my security is at an all time high and people are starting to wonder about how you're managing all of this. I don't want any awkward questions, this is my life."

"But it won't be for much longer," he pointed out.

Jenny stalled at that, she already knew what he'd said was true but hearing it out loud was slightly alarming. She shook her head, pushing away the uncomfortable feeling that had taken root in her stomach. "It will be for at least the next few years, so you need to stop all your tricks, you've made your point now."

He gave a brief nod. "Of course, I'll stop now, let the fuss surrounding me die down."

"Thank you."

"Now shall we go?"

"Yes, just one quick question. I don't know how to leave without being noticed."

He flashed her a smile. "That's easy, you just have to not want to be seen, the same goes for walking through walls or reaching through solid objects, you just have to want it." He led her to the wall separating the study from the hall. "Try it," he encouraged her.

Licking her lips nervously, Jenny reached out her hand, her eyes widening when her hand slipped easily through the wall as though it had never been there in the first place. Taking a step forward she found herself in the hall, Henri beside her smiling. "Told you," he whispered.

"That was kind of surreal," she laughed nervously.

He shrugged easily. "You'll get used to it."

"I'm sure I will."

He nodded. "Now for getting there. We're going to Anacostia park, normally you wouldn't hunt in an area so close to civilization, with all those wardens, but I think it's better we stick close to home tonight, in an area you know. Now all you need to do is close your eyes and think about where you want to go."

Nodding, Jenny did so, only opening her eyes when she felt a rush of cold wind surround her, and blinked in surprise when she found she was indeed in a heavily wooded part of the park. Again she felt Henri behind her, she turned to look at him, the amazement clear on her face. He gave a delighted laugh as he told her, "And we've only just started."

* * *

It was past four by the time Jenny crawled into her bed. She felt invigorated, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this way. She'd sprinted through the woods at God only knew what speeds, she'd been able to climb or jump whatever she'd wanted. She'd felt free, she'd had no obligations, no responsibilities, nothing to worry her.

There had simply been one thing wrong, and that had been who she was with. Henri had been fun, charming and understanding and she had enjoyed herself. The problem was that she wanted someone else there, it was someone else she wanted to enjoy her newfound freedom with. But he didn't want her, and now that she was what she was it could never even be an option, and that was a sobering thought.


	12. Chapter 12

****

**So I posted the final chapter to this earlier and quickly realised that I simply wasn't happy with the how this story had ended or what had happened in the last couple of chapters. Therefore I have decided to edit and re-post them.**

**I understand that most of you will be unable to leave a review for edited chapters if you have already reviewed the previous one, but I would really appreciate it if you gave me your opinion when I post the last chapter. I shall try not to take too long with this, as I understand how frustrating this might be to you all.**

**One last thing, this chapter may only have minor changes, but from this one onwards the changes will be far more noticeable and I recommend that you do read them instead of just waiting for the final chapter.**

**Thanks**

* * *

_Two Days Later_

Stepping out of the elevator, Gibbs stopped in his tracks as he saw Ducky walk towards Jenny, a large brown envelope encased in his hands. He frowned as he watched them talk for a few seconds before they headed off in the direction of her office. He stood for a few more moments as his mind raced, Jenny had taken yesterday off, cancelling all her appointments at short notice - something that simply wasn't like her.

His concerned frown darkened. The other night she'd been so pale and cold, he'd believed her when she said it had just been a chill, after all she'd been fine the rest of the day, but now he was starting to think that maybe it was simply that he wanted to believe her so badly that he'd just accepted what she'd said. Because what she was telling him didn't match up with Ducky's recent behaviour, or with the blood results that Abby had been so concerned about. Unfortunately if he didn't believe her, then it meant that she was sick, sick enough that she was deliberately pushing him away.

One thing was now very clear to him though, he needed to talk to Jenny, and this time he wasn't leaving until he knew he'd reached the truth.

* * *

"I've never seen anything like it," Ducky told her as he pushed his spectacles up his nose, looking absolutely bewildered. "But we also sent the results onto Dr Alan and we've all come to the same conclusion. That somehow the first diagnosis was a mistake, as there are absolutely no signs of the disease in any of your results. In fact you're in perfect health." He shook his head. "I don't understand how such a massive misdiagnosis could have occurred, I saw the results, I-" He stopped again and met her gaze. "Dr Alan is of course devastated that he could have got it so wrong, he plans to call you later to offer you his sincerest apologies. Although I have to say that I agreed with the initial diagnosis-"

"Ducky," Jenny interrupted his ramblings gently. "I'm not going to create a fuss about this, I'm just relieved that I'm not sick."

Ducky gave her a small but sincere smile as he told her, "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear about this miraculous turn of events, my dear."

Jenny reached across to where the older gentleman sat beside her on the sofa and squeezed his hand, smiling warmly. "So?" she asked. "Nothing at all showed up this time round?"

"Not a thing."

"And you're sure that this set of results are the correct ones."

"I believe so." He patted her hand reasuringly. "I can understand why you might be somewhat hesitant to believe them, but I would never dream of giving you false hope. I'm only here telling you this because I firmly believe that these results are accurate and looking at them I'd say you'll outlive us all," he laughed.

Jenny's smile faltered ever so slightly at that statement as it struck at a raw nerve, it was truer than Ducky would ever realise. As she glanced back up at him she made sure that her expression didn't betray the multitude of thoughts that were racing through her mind.

* * *

Later that night as she stared into the flickering flames of her fire, Jenny sipped slowly at her bourbon. What Ducky had said earlier had scared her slightly, the reality of what she'd done was beginning to hit her, the thought of having to restart her life over and over and over again was more daunting than she'd originally appreciated. She'd never have anyone who she could really be close to, never even have the option of it because she would always have to move on.

As she heard footsteps approach her front door, she looked up, pulling herself out of her melancholy. She waited patiently as she heard her front door open and the steps drew closer. Looking up she saw Jethro appear in the doorway to her study, his jaw clenched tight, his face drawn and his skin pale. A frown creased her forehead as she took in the waves of tension that was rolling off him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"We need to talk," he told her hoarsely.

Standing up, Jenny met him halfway as he moved closer into the room. "What about?" she asked him.

"I know," he replied simply. His stomach sinking as a brief look of horror flickered across her face before she reigned in her expression and tried to look nonchalant.

"You know what?"

"Don't play games with me, Jen. Not now."

Jenny drew in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. He couldn't possibly know, he had to talking about something else. "Jethro I don't know what you're talking about."

His nostrils flared in annoyance, he didn't want to say the words out loud, it hurt too much, but it looked like she wasn't going to give him the choice. Pushing an agitated hand through his hair, he forced out, "I know that you're sick."

This time Jenny really was confused, this wasn't what she'd been expecting and so she protested easily, "Jethro, I'm not-"

"No!" he ground out, holding his hand up to stop her. "I'm not going to let you lie to me about this. I know about the blood tests you had Ducky run, I know that the results were bad and I saw him and you talking today and," the anger in his voice began to fade into an almost sad concern. "I know, Jen." He frowned at her, the hurt in his voice obvious as he asked, "Why wouldn't you tell me Jenny? Why won't you let me be there for you?"

She swallowed heavily, giving him an honest answer, "Because I don't want your pity."

"You wouldn't have got any," he told her firmly.

She shook her head sadly. "I know you Jethro, your in built code of honour would never let you turn your back, never let you turn away and you'd be stuck resenting me."

He frowned at her. "I'd never resent you, Jen. I'd stay with you because I want to be with you, nothing to do with a code of honour," he spat out the words as though he couldn't stand to have them in his mouth. He stepped closer to her, his hands coming to rest on her forearms. "I've missed you, Jen and -"

Jenny held her finger up to his mouth, silencing him. "Before you say anything else you should know that I'm not sick, Jethro. I had a bit of a scare, but I'm fine now." He stared at her for a moment and she didn't miss the small spark of hope that flashed in his blue eyes. Feeling utterly miserable but knowing it was only fair to give him a way out, she continued, "So you don't have to do this, you ca-"

Gibbs moved forward suddenly, his lips catching hers, quietening her more effectively than any words he could have chosen to say ever would have. His tongue ran along her bottom lip until her mouth parted, allowing him access, her hands curling around his neck, tugging him closer as his arm wrapped around her waist so that they were pressed together.

She moaned softly into his mouth as she wriggled closer to him, and the sound merely urged him on. He'd missed this, missed the way she tasted and she reacted to him in a way that no one else ever had. She drove him to distraction, until he was at a point where he couldn't think about anything else. Jennifer Sheppard had a power over him that no one else had and he doubted that even she knew the extent of it. Breaking the kiss he moved his mouth to the edge of her lips, trailing them down until he reached the sensitive spot of her neck.

Her head fell back slightly, giving him more access. "Jethro," she whispered. "What are you doing?"

"You weren't listening," he muttered against her skin. "So I decided showing you would be a better idea." He pulled his mouth away from her skin and cupping her face in his hands told her again, "I miss you, Jen, and I don't want to hear any excuses about why this isn't a good idea. We've wasted long enough."

She laughed lightly at his stern tone, her sparkling green eyes meeting his crystal blue gaze. She knew what his 'I miss you' meant and she was fine with the fact that he couldn't say the words, accepted the fact was that he had always shown his feelings rather than said them aloud. Standing on her tip toes, she leaned forward and whispered against his ear, "I've missed you too, Jethro."

His reply came in the form of another kiss, one that robbed any rational thought from her mind, and before she knew it she was on her back in front of the fireplace she'd been staring into only twenty minutes previously.

They shed their clothes quickly, hands and lips ghosting over every inch of skin that was uncovered, taunting and teasing until a thin sheen of sweat covered both of them.

His hands glided easily over her, his mouth and fingers teasing her breasts until she writhed under him, her mouth open as she gasped into his shoulder, her legs curling around his hips, arching her back and silently pleading for more, nails biting into the muscles of his back.

Her mouth found his again, her eyes closing as he thrust into her, savouring the feeling of him resting inside of her. She locked her legs tighter, as he stilled briefly, giving her the chance to adjust to him.

She raked her fingers through his sweat dampened hair, trailing butterfly kisses along his jaw, whimpering as he finally began to move in long slow strokes that frustrated her to the point that she wanted to scream. Determined to level the playing field, she squeezed her inner muscles around him, drawing a choked groan from him.

He lowered his head to the hollow of her throat, his tongue flickering out to taste her, mumbling her name as his thrusts began to pick up pace.

She tugged his head up, kissing him deeply as she felt the last of her self control disintegrate and the coiling feeling that had been building low in her stomach snapped. She cried out against his mouth as she contracted around him, catapulting him into his own release. Those moments felt almost endless until he finally collapsed onto her, his arm only just supporting his weight. Falling to the side he tugged her into him, kissing the top of her head as his fingers linked with hers and they lay together contented and sated.

* * *

Henri swallowed heavily as he leaned against the tree outside. His mind raced and he felt sick to his stomach, he'd arrived wanting to spend more time with Jenny and found her with him. She'd been so absorbed with him that she hadn't noticed he was there. He'd stayed only moments, but saw what he knew was their version of a declaration of love.

He slammed his head back against the tree trunk hard, hoping the pain would distract him; it didn't. This Jethro loved her, and she obviously loved him. His eyes travelled back to the window again, and he felt a stab of pain through his chest, he didn't want to think about what had happened next, but it was all he could focus on.

He couldn't do this, couldn't watch her love another man. He knew what he had to do next, he had no choice.


	13. Chapter 13

"We need to get up and go to work," Jenny protested half-heartedly as she felt Jethro's hands once again begin a slow exploration of her body.

Gibbs gave a shrug, pulling her closer into his side. "So we'll be a little late."

Jenny's head snapped up, her eyes narrowed. "Who are you? And what have you done with Jethro?"

He gave a throaty chuckle. "I can just think of better things to do today."

"So can I," Jenny laughed. "But," her hand reached up, cupping his face just as he was about to turn his attention to her collarbone, her tone turning serious, "I've taken a lot of time off in the past few days and I really do need to play catch up." She gave him a slow, easy smile. "I'll leave as early as I can though." Her fingers brushed across his chest teasingly. "But I think that I'll need to go to bed early."

"Ah," Gibbs nodded in mock seriousness. "I think I can help you with that."

"Good," Jenny declared decisively as she wiggled free of his hold and stepped out of the rumpled bed. She threw his t-shirt at him, laughing, "I want you dressed by the time I get out of the shower."

He sent her one of his rare boyish grins. "I could help scrub your back? Save you some time," he suggested.

"I think we both know that doesn't save anyone's time," Jenny called back over her shoulder.

As she stepped under the warm spray of water, she let out a confused sigh. She was happy about last night's development, she truly was, but it was so complicated now, and Jethro didn't even know just how complicated it was. Eventually she'd have to leave him, again. Or stay in the shadows of his life, watch him grow older until finally….she shook her head, she couldn't think about it, it hurt too much. But she didn't have a choice, she couldn't ask him to leave everyone else he cared about for her, it wouldn't be fair.

She scrubbed the shampoo into her hair almost viciously. She was getting ahead of herself, they'd spent one night together, she shouldn't be worrying about this, she had at least another five years left in this 'life' and they might not even make it that long-

She jumped and whirled around as she heard the shower door slide open, relaxing when she saw the man in question step inside. Pushing her gently against the wall, he lowered his mouth to her ear, whispering, "It might not save time, but maybe water?"

Laughing softly, she let go of the thoughts that were plaguing her and nodded. "Maybe."

* * *

Later that night, Gibbs found himself in the place he hadn't really expected be in for once - his basement, working on his boat. He'd fully expected to be at Jenny's house tonight, making up for lost time. However she'd had a stream of meetings and had insisted that he shouldn't wait for her, promising to phone him when she finally arrived home.

He had considered going to her house and waiting for her, but knowing that she most likely wouldn't be home for hours and that he'd get bored within about ten minutes, had decided to go home and work on his boat instead.

A creak on his stairway caused his head to snap up, his brow furrowing when he saw the shadowed figure standing there. He knew instantly that it wasn't anyone he'd ever met, but was unsure of who else it could be.

His gut tugged at him uncomfortably as he asked, "Who are you?"

"That is of little consequence," came the reply, as he stepped out of the shadows.

Gibbs stared at him for a moment, feeling a surge of anger as he realised that this man fit Hector's description of Jenny's stalker. Biting back the urge to shoot him, he asked, "Well then what are you doing here?"

"Do you love her?"

"I don't think that has anything to do with you," Gibbs replied sharply, having no need to ask who 'she' was.

The stranger gave a sad smile as he replied lightly, "It has more to do with me than you could ever imagine." He turned his intense gaze back to Gibbs. "I saw you with her last night."

Gibbs felt his fists clench at the idea that such a private moment had been overlooked. "That how you get your kicks, is it? Spying on women?"

"I wasn't spying," he replied calmly. "I came to talk to Jenny, I assure you that I left quickly when I realised the nature of your relationship."

"I really should shoot you," Gibbs snarled.

"Go right ahead, although I fear you may find the experience more frustrating then you realise."

Gibbs actually considered it for a brief moment, before instead spitting out, "You're not worth the paperwork."

Henri leaned against the basement wall, his eyes focused on Gibbs, studying him intently. Finally he spoke again, "She deserves to be happy."

"And you think that you stalking her is going to achieve that?"

His eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid that you really have misunderstood the situation, although that is of course partly my fault. Jenny-"

"Director Sheppard," Gibbs quickly corrected him, uneasy with the familiarity that he was using.

"I don't think she'd appreciate me being so formal," Henri informed him. "And either way what I call her is irrelevant, and has nothing at all to do with me coming here. I want to ensure that you understand what you'd be entering into if you rekindle your relationship. I don't want her to get hurt, and that is something that you could quite easily do, even if it is unintentional.

Gibbs felt his fists clench, he really wanted to punch this guy, he had the feeling that it would give him great satisfaction. Instead he ground out, "Exactly what do you mean?"

"Think about it. I know that it will be difficult to accept as you're obviously a rational man, but how do you think I was getting in and out without being noticed? How did you think I managed to get that necklace out of a locked drawer with another person in the room?"

"It's amazing what people can accomplish when they're as screwed up as you."

Henri gave a small chuckle. "You really are going to have to open your mind, Agent Gibbs, otherwise there is little point in my being here and your relationship with Jenny wil be even more fleeting than the last time." At that Gibbs snapped, Henri had been moving closer to him as he spoke and the temptation to knock him out was just too great, he could listen to this crap in interrogation. He swung his arm back, and his eyes widened as the man disappeared, leaving his fist hurtling into thin air. Gibbs stumbled on his feet as the momentum carried him forward slightly, the face he'd been planning to smack now one. Righting himself, he whirled round blood rushing in his ears as he saw the man in question leaning casually against the other wall. He raised an almost arrogant eyebrow at him as he asked, "Are you ready to listen now? To accept that somethings are not easily explained?"

Stunned in a silence that was quite unlike him, Gibbs gave a curt nod in lieu of a reply.

"I'm not human, I won't bore you with the details as to how that came to pass, but it is the truth. All that is important know is that you accept that, because what I am is what Jenny is now. If you can't reconcile yourself with that then I think it would be better for you to end things now."

Gibbs stared at him, unblinking, his eyes hard as flint. "So you can sweep right in?"

"I will comfort her if you decide to walk away, however my happiness is not my main concern, hers is and and I will do everything within my power to ensure that she is happy." And with that he faded from view.

Gibbs stared at the empty space for a few moments, trying to understand what the hell had just taken place. Part of him wondered if he'd just hallucinated then his eyes fell onto his workbench and he saw a small curling piece of green ribbon, identical to the ones that had been wrapped around the flowers Jenny had received.

He backed away from it slowly, before turning and leaving the basement.

* * *

Smiling, Jenny made to pick up her house phone and call Jethro as promised, when a hand closed over hers, preventing the movement. Looking up, she flashed Henri a warm smile, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk with you."

Jenny sent a longing look in the direction of the phone before giving a small nod. "Of course." She motioned for him to sit down. "Do you want a drink?"

"Scotch, please" He watched her easy movements and gave a small smile as he remembered how they contrasted with her somewhat awkward movements of only a few days ago. He took the glass tumbler from her hand and asked, "I hope I haven't interrupted any of your plans for this evening?"

"I can out it back by an hour or so."

"But you would have preferred not to?" he guessed.

Jenny shrugged. "I've never been known for my patience."

"Well I am sorry for interupting. It's just that I wanted to check how you were getting on."

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, almost too quickly Henri noted.

He took a small sip of his drink. "Any questions?" he asked.

Giving a small nod, Jenny looked up and met his gaze. "How did you do it? How did you walk away from every life you'd made for yourself?"

"I didn't," he admitted candidly. "I never really settled, never really attempted to build a new life after Eloise died and I left the keep. I joined the army on and off, the sense of camaraderie helped my need for friendship. I think I have fought in every major war," he reflected, before shaking his head. "But of course I saw the men I had regarded as friends die which was difficult and of course I heard them talk of their families back home, which was worse. I began to become jealous of those who had died. It was of course utterly ridiculous but by this time I would have welcomed death. The only thought that kept me going was seeing you again." He looked up meeting Jenny's stricken gaze. "That of course does not mean you'll feel the same way. There are those of our kind who do go on and rebuild their lives, most have a mate though. So they are not entirely alone."

"There are more of us?"

"Yes, not many but I have met a few over the years."

"All couples?"

"Yes. They either changed together or met later and changed their other half."

"Oh. What about those who didn't find anyone? There must be some of them somewhere?"

Henri shrugged. "I suppose there must be, but I have yet to meet them." He levelled a gaze at Jenny. "Forever is a very long time to spend alone and -"

He was interupted by the sound of Jenny's front door opening. Jenny sent him an alarmed look when she realised he was making no effort to conceal himself. She sent him a horrified look just as Gibbs appeared in the doorway. He threw a glare in Henri's direction. "Thought I'd find you here," he snapped.

Jenny looked between them, feeling like she had missed something pretty important. "Jethro, how do you know him?"

"He came to see me earlier."

"I did," Henri confirmed earlier. He looked over at Gibbs. "I take it you've made your decision?"

"There wasn't one to make."

Henri nodded, a small, sad smile playing about his lips. "Well," he said quietly, placing his drink onto the desk. "Let's get on with it then."

And gripping both Jenny and Gibbs arms, they faded away.


	14. Chapter 14

Feeling like his stomach had been just been yanked inside out, Gibbs sucked in a large gulp of fresh night air. He sent yet another glare in the Henri's direction. "A bit of warning would have been nice," he grumbled.

"You get used to it," Jenny told him, sqeezing his arm lightly, before stepping forward to where Henri was standing staring around the darkened ruins that were in front of them, she sent Henri a quizzical look. "What are we doing here?" she asked.

"This was my home," he answered, his eyes staring almost vacantly ahead at the mouldering piles of bricks.

"Oh." Jenny stared at him in concern, wrapping her arms around herself. "Are you ok?"

"I will be." Finally he tore his eyes away from the ruin and looked over at Jenny. "I'd like you to come with me to Eloise's grave." He glanced over at Gibbs and added, "Both of you." Taking in the hesitant look in her eyes, he promised, "I'll explain more once we are there."

Jenny gave a nod. "Lead the way then."

She fell into step behind him, feeling Jethro's hand rest comfortingly in the small of her back as they made their way through the long forgotten graveyard, past derelict stones until they reached one that considering how old it was, was miraculously well kept. Jenny could even still make out the words engraved onto the worn stone. As her eyes scanned the name of _Eloise Dubious_, Jenny felt strangely detached. She wasn't sure what else she had expected, it may have been her life once but she no memories of it, just a vague sense of deja-vu. Looking back over at Henri, she saw that his hand was running over the top of the stone, his face contorted in grief. His voice appeared to come from far away as he spoke, "I saw you last night. With him." He glanced up with Jenny and seeing she was about to cut in, he continued, "I want you to be happy, but I always expected that it would be with me, that we'd get back what we had in your previous life. I can't watch you and him together, it will hurt too much."

Jenny swallowed nervously, glancing at Gibbs for a moment, taking in the almost stony look on his face before she asked,. "What are you saying?"

"Did you know that we are unable to kill ourselves. I don't quite understand why not, but we can't."

"I thought we were immortal?" Jenny asked, frowning.

"We have limited ways of dying. Burning and a silver bullet through the heart are the only ways. We seem to have a problem with silver, the wounds created by it won't heal and if our heart can't heal then we can't live." His fingers traced the engraving on the grave, his voice dropping lower, he turned shuttered eyes onto Gibbs and told him, "I'd like a few minutes alone with Jenny."

Gibbs frowned, he was feeling a bit too disconcerted by all of this. He looked over at Jenny who gave him a small nod. "I'll be fine," she whispered, answering his unasked question. With a curt nod in Henri's direction, Gibbs took a few steps back, so he could see what was happening, but could no longer hear the whispered words.

Henri anguished eyes on her, I've lived too long now, I'm tired. I've spent years convincing myself that when I found you everything would be right again, but you don't remember me, you'll never love me and I just can't watch you with him. Maybe the part of Eloise that loved me is waiting for me, maybe I'm just a fool clinging onto a vague possibility." He shrugged. "Either way, I've had enough."

He pulled out a gleaming, old style silver revolver and pressed it into her hands. Jenny stared at the gun, shaking her head, "I can't," she whispered.

"I realised that," he told her. "Which is why I brought him along," he nodded in Gibbs direction. "I don't think he'll be as bothered about shooting me and I want to rest here, with Eloise."

She continued to look at him, her mind racing as she considered what she should do. She studied his face intently, seeing the weariness, the bleakness in his eyes. Her gaze travelled to the hand that continued to rest upon the gravestone, his fingers stroking over the letters almost lovingly. It was the first time she could truly appreciate just how much he'd loved her and how lonely he now felt. "I'll ask him."

Henri gave her a grateful smile. "I just want to tell you something first."

"Go ahead," Jenny croaked out, grateful for this last minute reprieve. She might not be able to give him the love he wanted but she still cared for him.

His hands closed over her fore-arms, his eyes gazing into the gleaming green eyes that had haunted his dreams for centuries, the eyes that had once offered him such comfort. He stroked a finger across her cheekbone. "As I tried to tell you earlier, forever is a long time to be alone, and if you have lost the one you love it feels even longer. I want you to take a chance, mine might not have paid off but yours will. I can see how much he cares for you and I know that he'll make you happy, you just have to give him the chance."

"It's not as simple as that," Jenny protested.

"It will only be as complicated as you make it." With that he handed over the gleaming necklace. "I'm not going to need this, and technically it was yours." He gave a slight shrug and a small smile. "You can do whatever you like with it, it doesn't matter to me anymore."

Jenny stared at it for a brief moment, and nodding she tucked it away into her cardigan's pocket. "I'll take of it," she promised him.

"I know."

Turning away from Henri, Jenny made her way over to Gibbs. He looked at her in mild concern. "You ok?" he asked.

Sh stared at the revolver in her hand and held it out to him. He wants to die, and I can't do it."

Gibbs stared at her for a moment. "Jen, I know I said I wanted to shoot him, but this could be a trick."

"I trust him," Jenny told him. "There is no hidden agenda, he just wants it all to end."

Looking into the sad green eyes in front of him, Gibbs gave a small sigh as he took the gun from her and they walked slowly towards Henri together. They were only a few feet away when Jenny stopped, "I really can't," she whispered almost chokingly, hating having to admit to any weakness.

Nodding, Gibbs took the five more footsteps it toook to reach Henri and pressed the butt of the gun against his chest. "You sure 'bout this?" he asked.

Henri glanced once more over at Jenny and replied, "You'll do what it takes to make her happy?"

"You have my word," Gibbs promised him.

"Well then, I'm sure."

As he pulled the trigger, Gibbs couldn't help but note the acceptance in the other man's eyes. He felt the bullet tear free from the gun and heard Jenny's sharp gasp as he turned instantly to dust, settling into the grass that now covered his wife's beloved grave.

Lowering the gun, Gibbs moved back towards Jenny, wrapping his arm around her. "You alright?"

"Uh huh," she nodded. She looked up at him. "What about you?"

He shrugged, "It's been a different kind of day." His eyes scanned over her. "You wanna explain what's going on?"

"What do you know?"

"That he's not human, that you're not-" He cut off and shook his head, he really couldn't say it.

"I'm not," she told him. Her eyes pleaded with him as she told him, "I was dying, he gave me a way out."

Gibbs gave a brief nod. "We can talk about this at home," he told her. He stared around the ruins of the keep and added, "You do know how to get us home?"

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**I thought about going into their conversation, but I figured it would be impossible to keep them in character. **

**Everything will be wrapped up in the next chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Just in case you missed the latest development, this story has been changed. Chapter 12 has minor changes, while 13 and 14 have more major ones, and I would recommend that you re-read them before reading this final instalment.**

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Eight Weeks Later

Jenny let the weight of the necklace drape across her fingers. She smiled as she felt the comforting weight of Gibbs arms drape around her. "You decided what to do with it yet?" he asked.

"I'm going to send it anonymously to Mr Fraser. That way they'll never be able to prove that it's the same necklace that went missing from the lab. I'm sure that he'll put it on display somewhere. I think that it will be nice for Henri to have some sort of memorial, and this deserves better than to be locked away."

Gibbs nodded. "Sounds like a good idea." He still didn't like the guy, but he wasn't going to hold a grudge against a dead man.

Things had changed drastically in the last eight weeks, with Gibbs accepting that maybe there were things in life that couldn't always be explained. He knew for a fact that if Jenny hadn't made the decision to change then she would be dying and she would never have let him in; he knew that.

But now, they were happy. It wasn't easy making it work, balancing their relationship with work, but somehow they were managing. There was just one issue that played almost constantly on his mind, and he was sure that it played on hers as well.

He watched as she carefully placed the necklace back into it's box, her finger catching slightly on the side cutting into her skin. She let out a mild curse, holding the finger out to one side they both watched as it healed over just as quickly as it appeared. "You ok?" he asked her.

"Fine,"she replied. "I still find that a bit strange though."

He agreed with her, it wasn't the first time she'd hurt herself. she'd slipped on his stairs about a month ago, splitting her head open. He'd watched in uneasiness as the wound had knitted back together and her eyes had slowly regained their focus. That incident however had been what had brought their main issue to the forefront of his mind. She couldn't die, she couldn't be injured for longer than a few minutes and she wouldn't age. He however would, and he hated that thought.

Now though, he had a solution. "I've been thinking," he told her.

"I've warned you about that," Jenny teased him. "It's dangerous."

He pinched her side in mock reproof. "I want you to change me, Jen."

Jenny's eyes widened, she couldn't believe what she was about to say, but she forced it out anyway, "I can't."

"Why not? Surely you know how," he teased.

Despite herself she managed a small smile. "I know how," she replied. "I just don't think you've thought this through."

"I've not thought of anything else for eight weeks, Jenny."

"You'll have to give everything up."

"Not everything," he smirked, his hand trailing over her side.

"Jethro, I'm being serious."

"So am I. We can figure everything else out later, Jen."

"Jethro," she protested. "I-"

"Do you trust me?" he asked. His blue eyes focusing on hers.

"You know I do."

"Then trust me on this."

Jenny tilted her head slightly, as though considering him. "I suppose you're right," she replied slowly. "We can figure it out later."

"We will have a lot of time," he laughed.

Smiling, her eyes gleaming, she wrapped her arms around his neck. " You know," she whispered into his ear. "I've realised that it's not how much time you have that's important, it's how you spend it that matters."

"Now I have some ideas on that."

"I look forward to hearing them." She brushed her lips against his, adding, "Later though."

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**What I would love now is to know what you thought of the story.**

**Especially from those who read the original final chapter, whether you do it via review or PM it doesn't matter.**

**I understand that I may not have answered all your questions in this story but I feel that that is sometimes the way with supernatural stories, to explain everything would ruin it somewhat as it starts to become bogged down in the details.**

**For those who read the first final chapter, I know that this doesn't go into as much depth as to why Gibbs made his decision, but to do so made him a bit too OOC. That and I prefer the idea of the pair of them figuring out the road ahead together.**

**I'm also aware that a lot of you don't normally read supernatural stories, and I appreciate the chance you gave me here. If I have managed to convert some of you then yay! Lol, and if not, then I hope reading this wasn't too painful.**

**Oh and one last thing, for anyone who's interested, service shall resume on HIT as soon as my fingers recover from the today's mammoth editing session.**


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